Beating the System
by Darthkvzn
Summary: Daniel Fenton is no longer a hero. He's chosen the civilian life. When the Battle of Manhattan drops right on top of him, however, he takes up the fight again. With S.H.I.E.L.D. taking an interest in the supernatural, it was only a matter of time until Danielle came to light, and with that, the adventure of her short life. MULTICROSSOVER
1. Prologue

**So, here we are again.**

 **I owe you guys a huge apology. When I started this story, I did NOT plan it out, and I think it showed. It was, to put it mildly, a clusterf*ck. It had some admittedly good ideas, which I will not be forgetting, but it was going absolutely nowhere. So, I have reworked it. I have a plot, a main character, and tie-ins to my Marvel fics. There is actual structure now. As an apology, I'm giving you a huge first chapter, linking Danny's world with the MCU. It's very similar to the old version at the start, but it definitely diverges from there.**

 **It's told entirely from Danny's POV, as a 23-year old unemployed husband-to-be during and after the Battle of Manhattan. After this, however, it's a time jump of a little over a year, and a permanent switch to Danielle (called Ellie by now) as our main character.**

 **With this story, I'm officially opening my Marvel stories back up, specifically the Paranormal branch. Given Ellie is a younger hero, she'll be tying into First Contact eventually, which should be pretty cool, once I also rework that story to make perfect sense.**

 **So, sorry. I fudged up. I really do hope you enjoy this new story, though!**

* * *

I thought I'd beaten the system, I really did.

I'd been a superhero for six years, ever since I got zapped by the Portal at the tender, puberty filled age of fourteen. I'd swayed public opinion to the point even _Vlad_ couldn't pull off a smear campaign anymore without receiving serious flack from even his staunchest supporters. I'd gotten so good at fighting the other ghosts, that they rarely attacked anymore, and those that did, were either out of a weird desire to catch up with me and banter, or to escape the boredom of their afterlives. Even my grades got much better, as a result.

I'd managed to avoid being dissected molecule by molecule by my overzealous parents when I finally revealed my hybrid status, even though we didn't quite see eye to eye on my wish to keep the ghost side for good. I'd let go of my secret identity in front of the whole town, to roaring applause. And I'd managed to grow closer to my friends, gaining new ones in the process.

The scantily-clad, dark haired woman sprawled in our bed, wearing the onyx marriage band, complete with simulated diamonds made from ghost ice? You might say we were _even_ closer.

So, when Sam and I got engaged and left for New York, entrusting Amity Park's safety to Dani's capable hands, plus Valerie and my parents, I really thought I'd beaten the system. Y'know, that system where apparently, the hero had to suffer for the rest of his natural life, and, in my case, possibly the afterlife. Where I had to keep my ID secret to avoid the dangers I wouldn't be able to protect my loved ones from. Where I would be roped into working together with secret agencies and other superheroes to save the world against a major threat that I would not be able to stop by myself.

But no. No such thing. Just when I was settling down, and preparing for job hunting, aliens came from a portal in the sky above Stark Tower.

It all began on a monday, approximately 9 years after becoming Phantom.

Much like 95% of humanity (the mostly sane part of the population), I hate mondays. They're usually lengthy, tiresome, and filled with fights to the death.

At least mine are, ok?

The day humanity got its "Are we alone in the universe" question answered was pretty much nondescript. Summer was barely beginning, making the streets of New York unbearably hot, even for someone with a lower core temperature. Sam and I lived in a weird penthouse/storage room in some skyscraper I'd never bothered to learn the name of. Officially, I was renting an apartment down in Queens, but since my fianceé's folks had been nice enough to give her such lofty accommodations, we'd agreed it would be a waste for only one person to occupy the space.

Sleeping together was definitely a bonus. And don't you dare judge, 'cause we were both consenting adults and all that jazz.

In any case, Sam and I were on a coffee run when we heard it; an otherworldly _boom_ coming from the sky, somewhere near Grand Central station. Sam immediately looked at me with some concern, because the sound was not unlike the one that, say, a portal to a certain, ectoplasm filled alternate dimension might make. A quick glance at the sky confirmed my fears, as what could only be described as a hole in the sky began disgorging hundreds upon hundreds of little flying dots, trading shots (and big damn explosions) with an unidentified figure amongst them.

Did I mention I thought I'd beaten the system?

Sam was looking as well, and though there was some concern in her eyes, it was overwhelmed by that calm sense of duty one gained after years of selflessly protecting others at risk to your own health. We traded glances, and we both knew what to do.

She began using her trademark 'protest mode' voice, herding the patrons and staff of the Starbucks we were at, guiding them to a safe place as soon as the shots began landing on the ground, flipping cars over and generally causing mayhem. I thanked my lucky stars that hipsters were apparently immune to bathroom breaks as I ducked into the restroom, and willed my cold core to wash over my being.

I hadn't turned into Phantom in a while. It would be a total lie to say that I didn't feel elated at the power rush. As an admittedly powerful hybrid, I had access to most of my ghostly abilities when in human form. They were much weaker, and I couldn't use more than one or two at most at a time, but the fact I could use them at all was useful when I wasn't trying to draw attention, or didn't need many powers at once.

It wasn't one of those times, sadly. Turning invisible, I shot up, letting momentum take me to the skies. Or, at least, through the ceiling.

I phased out of the building effortlessly, sparing a glance at the sort-of-controlled chaos Sam was trying to manage. I grinned at her creative use of boiling water and ice cubes to get people moving. Poetic, really.

Climbing altitude I finally identified the figure fighting back against the invaders. Even though I wasn't exactly 'up to date' with news and trends (it comes from living in a small town most of your life), it was almost impossible to live in the western world, and not know who Iron Man was. That revelation speech on Youtube was the stuff of legends. It also didn't hurt my chances that my best friend was Tony Stark's number one fan. Seriously, the day Tuck traded in his last PDA (holy crud, was Amity tech-deprived) for a StarkPhone, I was seriously afraid he'd spontaneously combust from sheer happiness.

Iron Man wove in and around the alien-looking sleds, a sleek, red-gold engine of destruction spouting particle blasts, missiles, and laser beams. For an idle second, I wished I looked even half as cool as the man in the armor. Then I remembered I kind of had my work cut out for me.

As you might have been able to tell, I was trying not to draw any attention to myself. Even if I hadn't wanted a nicely deserved break from constant heroics, it wasn't my job to be the bright and shiny target. The way I saw it, Iron Man had most of the enemy's attention, and was trying to keep it that way to avoid any collateral damage where possible. I realized my job was almost exactly the opposite. I smirked, because if there was something the ghost in me loved, it was messing with people's minds.

Deciding my 'induce chaos' plan was my best possible contribution, I dived for the nearest flier, willing myself to turn to that special layer of intangibility that allowed me to overshadow someone. If I had any doubts that this was an alien invasion, they were dissipated as soon as I entered the creature's body.

When I overshadowed a human, the process could accurately be described as driving a human body. Experiencing it yourself was like subjecting your brain to an all-encompassing blindfold, only to take it off and leave it to its own devices once the foreign presence departed.

Overshadowing the alien was more like trying to move a gorilla's body with a human mind. The general anatomy was there, but the weight, distances and movements were all wrong. The best you could hope for was a somewhat accurate guesstimate. For my purposes, this was more than enough. I left the alien body almost as soon as I entered it, the course he was taking completely derailed, coincidentally, directly to the ground. I heard a bone-rattling _boom_ behind me, and grinned. I was gonna have a blast.

The next fifteen or twenty minutes were a blur in which I overshadowed more times than I probably ever had. It wasn't an ability I was too proud of, what with the taking away someone's free will, and all, but I had zero qualms in exploiting its use against these attackers.

That's when the space whale decided to make a splash. And, by a splash, I mean a deafening series of random crashes into buildings, accompanied by a constant, deep rumble, probably meant to demoralize. It might have worked a little, because I didn't exactly fancy my chances against it.

Luckily, I didn't have to.

I'll admit it. Even though I was somewhat jaded towards the hero life, having an invisible, front row seat to the formation of the Avengers sparked a tiny ember of joy in me that I thought I'd lost in my final confrontation with Plasmius, some time ago.

When that tiny slip of a man turned to the huge, green monster and pummeled Space Moby Dick into the ground, I almost let an elated whoop! out. Made even worse when Iron Man blew it neatly apart in two halves, disconcerting even the most savage of aliens into confused and angered roars.

I was rudely snapped out of it by the groan of Moby's friends, coming to avenge their fallen cetacean friend, and Iron Man blasting off (and nearly scaring my invisibility away) a couple yards beside me, carrying what looked like a man with an actual _bow_ and _arrows_ to a nearby rooftop. _Then_ I had to turn intangible to avoid being run over by a man with a fancy-looking mallet, armor, and a red _cape_ flying towards the Empire State building.

And here I _thought_ I'd left the weirdness behind in Amity.

In any case, the battle resumed in full swing when the green giant leaped about a hundred feet into the air, crashing right into an alien climbing down the side of a building, then jumping a few more times, and sowing chaos amongst their ranks. I grinned, ready to invisibly join him.

By the time the fight had raged on for another half an hour, the National Guard arrived, dozens of tan Humvees evacuating the civilians hiding amongst the rubble and various damaged buildings. I grimaced, as I could only hope that Sam was among them, or had gotten to safety earlier. With our track record, I could never be sure. I saw everything from lightning falling down out of nowhere, seemingly controlled by the blond man with the hammer, to Iron Man diving directly _into_ a space whale's maw, blowing it up from the inside like an ironic, slightly more explosion-y version of Jonah. At one point, though my eyes might've deceived me, I thought I even saw a hooded figure hacking aliens in half with a _sword_. I swear, New Yorkers were so weirdly awesome.

Slowly, though, the defenders were being overwhelmed. A glance at the portal currently disgorging dozens of fresh fighters did not bode well for the brightly colored heroes. It also gave me an idea. I wasn't willing to show myself _here_ (and I _was_ beginning to get tired), but nobody ever said I couldn't fight at full power out _there_.

I grinned, and accelerated directly into the portal.

Contrary to logical conclusion, given that I was only half ghost, I _could_ survive in the vacuum of space, unaided. Eating, sleeping, and breathing, though not exactly optional, were something I could go a _long_ time without in ghost form. I could effectively hold my breath for a couple of hours, provided I didn't talk, of course. As for the pressure, or lack thereof, the team and I theorized that the otherworldly glow I gave off was actually a sort of film or aura that kept my form, which was still mostly human, intact, much like it kept the plasma-based form of a ghost in one coherent shape.

What all of that means is, I got to work with gusto. Even though I kind of missed on bantering, splitting myself in four and shooting ecto-blasts at will was oddly soothing. It wasn't even fair, really; the aliens did not stop to fight me, single-mindedly diving into the portal. They took potshots at me and my duplicates as they passed, but those were laughably easy to avoid or just plain let pass, turning myself intangible.

Unfortunately, in my zealous endeavors, I was expending my energy far too quickly. My ghost core would regenerate the energy given time, giving me a 'second wind', but after that, I would have to revert to human, and I couldn't exactly let that happen while in the middle of space. I recalled my clones, feeling a bit of relief at the returning energy, and turned around, only to look at a missile headed straight at me. I scrambled to avoid it, and its passenger/carrier, Iron Man, who let go, the suit seemingly shutting down.

A miniature sun exploded into existence, and my eyes widened; Iron Man was drifting, slowly, back to the portal, aided only by the small force of some of the shoulder pieces ejecting, and what was left of the missile's wake. I quickly did the math in my head, and grimaced. At that rate, he wouldn't make it back; worse still, from my position, I couldn't just push us both back to the portal.

I was sorely reminded of why I had quit the hero business.

I flew as fast as I could, closing the distance as much as I could to make my plan as effective as possible, all the while starting to feel the heat of the explosion warm even in the cold of space. When I was at optimal range, well...I shot Iron Man.

In my defense, it worked. The cold plasma of my ghostly ray gave Stark the push he needed to reach the wormhole in time, just as it closed. I didn't have time to be relieved, as I turned intangible in a split second to avoid the _nuclear explosion_ that washed over me.

When the blast dissipated a few seconds later, I tiredly let go of the power, hoping the residual radiation wouldn't kill me, or worse, make me even weirder. I scowled at my situation, knowing the only thing I could do now was attempt to make a portal into the Ghost Zone, and hope I would end up somewhere I might recognize.

Making a portal was less of a power issue, and more of a spiritual one. To make one, I needed to experience a strong sense of missing home; my ghost side needed to yearn for the Zone, at which point I would visualize an entry point, and pretty much hope for the best. I was not a very spiritual man, having been born to a couple of scientists, so this had been the ability I'd had the hardest time learning, even more so than the Ghostly Wail and Duplication.

The two-dimensional vortex of green and black appeared before me, and, as I flew through it, the last thing I remember is feeling my humanity take over with a dazzling flash of light.

* * *

The next thing I knew, I was waking up in the Ghost Zone, feeling like I'd taken on the Ghost King for a laugh. I was lying down on my back, floating a few inches off a sheet of tightly packed snow. I turned to Phantom, though I knew I was far from in danger. This was Frostbite's realm, and thus I was more than safe here.

"You're awake. A little early, even." -said a familiar voice to my left.

I turned, finding a teal baby in a purple hood, holding a staff. In other words, I had a visitor in the form of Clockwork.

"Your jokes keep getting better, I see." -I said, groaning as I stretched my aching body.

The Master of Time smirked, turning into an adult. "There's a point, three-hundred or so years in the future, in which I stop making them altogether. But I'm here for the here and now."

I shook my head. "What the hell happened, Clockwork?"

He turned ancient, his eyes gaining the sadness of an eternity of sorrow. "Mankind's time as an independent player in the cosmos is ended, I'm afraid. I had hoped it would take longer, but unfortunately, the universe did not agree with my wishes."

"But... _aliens?_ People are still in denial about you and me, Clockwork. They think Amity Park is a tourist trap of a town filled with nutjobs and con men. They are _not_ ready for aliens." -I argued.

"You'd be correct. But readiness is no longer a factor. It's happened, and the clock does not go back. Now we must look to brace for the future." -he said.

I frowned. "Wait, wait, wait, what's this about _we_? I'm _out_ of it, Clockwork. I am _not_ going back to the life. I'm engaged, looking to build a family soon...hell, I just participated in this circus to make sure Sam was safe."

He frowned, as an adult. "Isn't that a tad selfish, Daniel?"

I bristled slightly. "So _what_ if it is? I think I earned the chance to be a little selfish, Clockwork. I never asked for my powers, and I still did the best I could with them. I just... _can't_ , anymore. They broke me, and you know it, you saw what Vlad did. Picking up where I left off...I'd only break further, lose what we all managed to keep. I can't spend my entire life fighting."

"The world may need you to." -he said sadly.

"The _world_ clearly has other heroes. Amity's safe with Ellie, the aliens are all dead...and I just really, _really_ want to get back to my future wife." -I said tiredly.

Clockwork looked at me for a moment, but ultimately nodded. "You are free to go, of course. Though I'm afraid Frostbite may want to greet you before you leave his domain." -he said, then disappeared with a wave of his staff.

As it turned out, Frostbite was busy, attending a meeting of the Revenant Council regarding the alien invasion. I was, of course, invited, but I didn't care for spending hours listening to ancient ghosts bicker, especially since I didn't actually know how Sam had fared. Opening a portal back to New York, I stepped in and braced for the worst.

* * *

The city looked mostly ok, for having been assaulted by giant space whales and alien gorillas on floating sleds.

The vast majority of the destruction was confined to Midtown, which was no doubt the result of our efforts. The area had been cordoned off by the National Guard, and some odd-looking soldiers in black garb. I didn't exactly care to get tangled with the military at the moment, so I booked it for our apartment.

When I invisibly phased into our bedroom, I found it mostly as I'd left it. A black bra hanging off the edge of our bed, scattered popcorn on the floor, and the TV left on, for which Sam was probably going to hit me. Though her ultra-recyclo-vegetarian phase was done, she was still all for ecology. Our bedside lamp was smashed on the floor, which I imagined was the result of one of those whales crashing to the ground, but other than that, the room was unchanged, as was most of the house.

Except for the kitchen.

"Mr. Fenton, I was wondering when you'd return." -said a black man in a trenchcoat, wearing an eyepatch. Again with the weirdness.

I blinked, making sure I wasn't just experiencing severe exhaustion. I was not.

"Sorry, have we met? Also, _please leave my home_." -I said curtly.

The man smirked, rising and offering his hand. "Not yet, no. I'm Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D."

Oh boy. A government type. An _interesting_ one, too, given his attire. I ignored his hand. "That's cool and all, but you're still breaking and entering." -I said, fighting to keep the green off of my eyes.

"Just entering. You'll notice your front door is intact." -he said.

"Well, thanks for that, I guess. Look, I love banter as much as the next guy, but I had a really tiring day, and you're _still being a criminal_."

He put his hands behind his back, which made me tense up a little. "Oh, I don't intend on staying. I just wanted to extend an invitation to my headquarters. You'll find your fiancée there."

Well. That changed things. I stood there, silent for a few seconds, deciding whether I should just blast the pirate right there or play along. I guess my control slipped for a second, because he raised an eyebrow. "No need for that, Mr. Fenton. We're on the same side, here. We just...employ different tactics."

Suddenly, it clicked. The soldiers in black garb, the superheroes that sprung out of literally nowhere. " _Oh_ , I think I know _everything_ about your tactics. I'll play your game, Mr. Fury. For now. Do try not to pull anything funny on us, though. The last government organization that did is no longer in operation."

* * *

S.H.I.E.L.D. had a vastly different concept of headquarters than the Guys in White ever had. Their HQ was a weird hybrid of an aircraft carrier and a hovercraft. The engineer in me was a little mind boggled by the sheer challenge of keeping such a massive vessel aloft, but my mind had more pressing matters to attend to.

Director Fury and I were picked up by a very advanced hovercraft on the roof of the apartment building. It quickly rocketed away, flying for a good fifteen minutes above the speed of sound until it decelerated and reached the Helicarrier, as I soon learned it was called. I could tell the ship was damaged. The massive turbines groaned with extra stress, and the aircraft was tilted ever so slightly to the left. I followed the man in black getting a few mildly curious stares from the staff. Inside the ship, it was barely controlled chaos. Parts were being moved every which way, there were blood smudges everywhere, and bullet holes lined some of the walls.

"Unwanted visitors?" -I asked.

The black man huffed. "Mercenaries, tried to take us out so we wouldn't stop the invasion. They evidently failed."

Considering they'd gotten so far, and really, Iron Man had been the one doing the stopping, I don't think I'd be so confident in his place.

Fury led me down a service stairwell, on to a nondescript meeting room. Sam was thankfully there, looking epically annoyed and clad in a black hoodie with the agency's logo. Her expression changed when she saw me, rising without a word and leaping into my arms. She smelled of sweat, blood (both alien and human), burnt wood, and gunpowder. Her hair was tangled and singed, and when I held her face between my hands, I noticed a variety of minor cuts, bruises, and scrapes.

She looked gorgeous still, somehow. We kissed deeply, then sighed, kind of disturbingly used to life or death situations.

"Hey Sam." -I said, my voice half broken.

"Hey yourself." -she said, with that lopsided smirk I so loved.

"As much as I hate to interrupt your moment, we need to talk." -said Fury.

I bristled, but Sam's lavender eyes said 'patience'. My temper subsided, for the time being. "Get on with it, then." -I said gruffly.

I turned to face him. "So, what's this about?" -asked Sam.

Fury tapped the crystal of the table a few times, and it flickered to life. We were sent a few files, which appeared in front of us. I tentatively opened one, and saw footage of the recent battle. It was very blurry, and the camera shook badly, but a few snippets were clear enough. The first one showed an alien sled flying completely straight, then suddenly taking a nosedive onto the street. The second one showed Sam, handling the weapon of a fallen alien like it was just another ecto gun. The third was a shot of Iron Man falling through the wormhole, a bright green flash reflecting of his armor. The final one was maybe the most damning. It was a selfie, taken by two of the patrons in Starbucks, which showed me running into the restroom.

"Until two hours ago, I had no idea that you existed, Mr. Fenton, Ms. Manson. The media treats your hometown as less than a joke, your families are slightly famous for unsuccessfully pioneering cold plasma tech and being obscenely rich, respectively, and you two particularly are seemingly just another young couple looking to build a life in the Big Apple. Now? We're not so sure."

I rolled my eyes. "The point, Mr. Fury? Get to it, please."

"You're a superhero, Mr. Fenton. Like the protagonists of the comic strips of old." I looked at Sam, who shrugged.

I sighed. "Good, you're aware. We can drop the pretense."

Rings of blinding white light formed at my waist, one going upwards, and the other toward my feet. In their wake, they left behind a lightly armored black jumpsuit, white gloves and boots, and a tan complexion. My glowing green irises focused on the two surprised men before me, while the glow inherent to my ghostly form made the room seem darker.

Fury gave me a once-over. "So this is the famous Danny Phantom, huh?"

I shrugged. "It's just Phantom, now. The name was a little on the nose."

The man raised an eyebrow, but otherwise said nothing.

I crossed my arms. "Right, well. You got the light show. Are we free to leave now?" -I asked Fury.

He, as usual, ignored my question. "I'd like to talk to you about the Avengers Initiative, Mr. Fenton."

 _Avengers_ sounded a _little_ too violent for me, even without the 'no more heroics' thing. "Uh, no thanks?"

"You got a taste of what it is, down there. You've seen their potential. But you've also seen that they are _not_ unbeatable. They need help. I'd like you to be a part of it."

I facepalmed. "What _is it_ with you people? I'm not a hero. Not anymore. I'm just a guy who wants a normal life."

"That's not an option." -he said seriously.

My eyes burned emerald. "That a threat, Director?"

Fury stood his ground. "An assurance. I know my fair amount of heroes, Mr. Fenton. It is not a job for anyone to quit. It's a permanent way of life."

"Well, _I_ chose to live my life a different way."

"Did you? Then why help, huh? The Avengers may have had casualties, but in the end, I _know_ they would've been able to pull it off. Seeing Stark fighting didn't stop you from joining in. I know a hero when I see one, Mr. Fenton, and you fit the bill to a T."

I groaned. "Ok, first of all, Iron Man had a _very_ fragile handle on the situation. Powerful though he may be, he's just the one guy, and he was getting overwhelmed. People were going to die if I didn't do _something_. That's not being a hero, just a decent human being. And second? You don't know me, or even Sam. You've no idea what we've gone through, and if you know what's good for _you_ , you'll stop asking me to be your weapon."

Fury sneered. "Am I hearing a _threat_ , Mr. Fenton?"

I smirked sarcastically. "Just an assurance."

The man grit his teeth, but ultimately nodded after a little sigh. "I understand. Believe me, I do. I've lost good men to the cause...some of them, very recently. But the world is _always_ going to need you, in one way or another. If you are _sure_ you're not interested in the Avengers Initiative, then S.H.I.E.L.D. would still be willing to offer you a handsomely paying job as a consultant."

I frowned. He sounded painfully sincere. "Consulting on what?"

Fury shifted uncomfortably. "While S.H.I.E.L.D. has many aspects of international security on lockdown, recent alien invasion excluded, discovering your existence has brought an unforeseen front that we'd have no way of countering. My superiors do not consider _ghosts_ a credible threat, or even a real phenomenon, but I've studied up on you. Someone with even half your capabilities and none of your morality would pose a serious menace. I'd like you to teach S.H.I.E.L.D. how to counter paranormal threats."

I looked at Sam, who looked uncertainly back at me. I _did_ need a job, and I hadn't found a decent one in over a year. We weren't exactly poor, with Sam's funds, but we wanted a family, and we didn't want to leave our children's future to chance. "What would we get out of it?"

Fury shrugged. "Name your price. Health insurance, consulting rates...with the invasion, we have the funding. At least a couple of good things came out of that mess."

I thought about it for a moment. "Give me a week and a phone number. I'll try to figure something out, though I promise nothing."

Fury nodded. "Done. Check your e-mail when you get back. And Mr. Fenton...thank you. Even if you don't want to be, you're a hero."

* * *

As promised, as soon as I flew Sam and myself back into the apartment, I found a brand new, brandless laptop on the kitchen. Upon booting it up, it scanned my face as well as Sam's, and displayed the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo, as well as a single folder with all the files I'd need, to learn what becoming a consultant meant. It also had the files on the Avengers Initiative, much to my chagrin. I ignored them for the time being, but somehow couldn't bring myself to delete them. Sam gave me a knowing smirk. She'd never quite agreed with my decision to quit the heroics, but she supported me anyway.

"What're you gonna do?" -she asked me.

I shook my head. "I'm not sure. Fury rubbed me the wrong way, at least at first, but I could tell he's genuinely concerned about people's safety."

She hummed. "Kind of a caring jerk kinda vibe, right?"

That got a wince and a nod out of me. "Sort of, yeah. Even if he _was_ just a jerk, his offer is really hard to decline. It's like a blank check."

"So, don't decline it. I'm _definitely_ not a big fan of secret government agencies, but think about it. You'd be able to know what's going on, control what they learn about ghosts. You can teach them and prevent them from going nuts like the Guys in White did." -she argued.

I scowled, upset that she talked about them so easily, when she'd been so hurt by them. "Wouldn't you be endangered if they know more about ghosts?"

She shrugged. "It's not like they'd be more dangerous to me than I am myself."

True enough, I supposed. "Alright. I'll work on my terms."

She pulled me away from the kitchen table. "No, you're not. _We're_ taking a shower. I was just in a warzone, and am in dire need of a thorough scrubbing."

I raised an eyebrow, but happily obeyed as we began to lose clothing on the way to our bathroom. What followed is hardly meant for younger minds, but suffice it to say, we celebrated our survival and our love for each other with passion, followed by the longest sleep in our relatively short lives. In the end, I accepted the job, though not without a few insurance policies. Namely, no experiments, no free anti-ghost tech, and full immunity for Sam and I. I royally screwed up on one front, though, which I'd realize way too late.

In my haste to accept the job, I'd missed including a certain hybrid in my considerations.

* * *

 **EDIT: Added some line breaks, which I forgot.**


	2. Chapter 1: The Stalker

**Well, this has been quite a long time coming. I had to rewrite this chapter a couple of times, unfortunately. Finally, I've come up with a pretty great story, I think, though it might be a little hard to understand at first. Do consider that this is a multicrossover!**

* * *

The rest of my life started with a stalker.

My name's Danielle. No last name, though I _do_ have a big family. I am _technically_ six years old, but I look as if I were around eighteen or so, maybe a little older. I am also not fully human, though I suppose that's less of a shock these days, with aliens, gods and superheroes being...well, not commonplace, but certainly not as unique as they used to be.

I guess that's what the stalker came to find to Amity Park. Y'see, I protect this town in the middle of nowhere. Pretty infamous because of the pests. Amity Park is home to a link, a portal between our dimension, and _theirs_.

My other half is a ghost, and the Ghost Zone is really where I belong.

Still, I promised Danny - long story short, I was cloned from him, and something went wrong because I'm _definitely_ not a him - that I would protect his hometown after he decided to leave the hero life behind and create a family with the love of his life. I'll be honest, it's not nearly as fun as the Ghost Zone, but I _love_ a good fight and, at the very least, protecting Amity rarely lacks for that.

Ghosts are a _rowdy_ bunch. Very territorial, _mostly_ not evil, but definitely grumpy _all the time_. I grew up in the Zone, so I guess you could say I'm a little rowdy, too. I'm _way_ more in touch with my inner ghost than I am with my inner human. I spend the vast majority of my time patrolling the city, stopping the occasional human crime and my ghostly counterparts/friends from wrecking the place and generally causing mayhem. I usually don't even shift back to human.

The first time I saw the stalker, I'd been fighting Technus.

" _I AM TECHNUS_! Master of all modern technology! Your dependency on modern devices will be your _doom_!" -he boasted as he cackled madly, surrounded by random pieces of floating technology, most of which were smartphones.

I rolled my eyes as I landed, striking a pose. "I think the whole _world_ know your schtick by now, Technus."

He grit his teeth, sending the phone cloud towards me, making them explode on contact. I simply went intangible and yawned, then rocketed towards him, fist first. I delivered a massive punch to his nose, and he flew against a wall, wailing in pain.

Technus shook his ugly head. "Ugh...the whole...well, GOOD! Everyone should get to know their future overlord! TECHNUS!"

" _Gah_ , you don't even know what an app _is_. Will you just get in the thermos, you outdated piece of malware?" -I asked, exasperated.

"NEVER!" -he roared, then blasted a bolt of ghostly electricity at me. I conjured a green shield around me, which easily absorbed the attack. Technus groaned in frustration, looking for anything to throw at me.

He found a car.

The ghost thrust his hand out. The vehicle came to life, gaining an outlandish green and white paint job and sprouting glowing ecto-guns and rocket launchers.

It _would_ be a problem, if he didn't do the same thing every other week.

I dove _into_ the ground, coming up right where Technus was. He was surprised by the move, and tried to fry me again. This time, I didn't defend myself, bearing the attack, but putting him between his evil car and me. The vehicle shot every weapon it had at me, but I already had a nice little shield in the form of its master. The huge resulting explosion of ectoplasmic energy blew me a good twenty feet back, but I got up, unscathed and grinning like a madman. Or woman, in this case. Technus struggled to rise, his horrifying hairdo half burned off, and oozing ectoplasm from various 'wounds'. I didn't really worry about his wellbeing, since as soon as he went back to an ectoplasm-rich environment, he'd heal pretty quickly.

"That all ya got, nerd?" -I taunted him.

Technus raged at me, diving and trying to punch me. Wrong move, obviously. His strength was his ability to create weaponized constructs out of seemingly ordinary technology, not hand-to-hand combat.

His mistake had him on the receiving end of a beatdown that would've killed a regular human twice over. I had him inside a thermos in half a minute. I shook my head, putting the thermos against a magnet my suit had on the lower back. "For such a genius guy, you never learn, huh?" -I said to no one, surveying the scene for any leftover ghostly tech I might've missed.

I knew he wouldn't change. It's simply how ghosts worked. They were really just afterimages, soulless monsters that, while often intelligent, were usually utterly bound to the obsession that had kept their minds focused during death. I couldn't help them if they didn't want to _be_ helped. Best I could do was keeping them from causing too much damage.

I readjusted my ponytail, putting those depressive thoughts out of my mind. That's when I saw him.

The stranger was tall and thin, with a long, wild mess of pitch-black hair atop his head. His skin was a pale olive tone, like he had some mediterranean genes in him. He wore an aviator's jacket, which looked older than I was, though that wasn't saying much. I immediately knew he wasn't from around here, because he was looking at me with an annoyed frown. I was - not to brag or anything - pretty well-liked in town, even if I wasn't quite 'Danny Phantom statue in front of Town Hall' levels of popular yet. He made no move to speak to me, only staring at me intensely.

His _eyes_...they were...scary. I don't scare easily, but the stranger's otherwise regular brown eyes, framed by dark bruising - the kind you get when you just _won't sleep_ \- had me feeling a strange buzzing at the base of my skull.

It freaked me out a bit, I'll admit. Most people avoided my electric blue irises. It was a survival instinct thing, according to Jazz, my surrogate sister, expert on all things psychological. This dude was definitely _not_ most people, holding my gaze uninterrupted.

In any case, I didn't need the creepy guy's stare, so I decided to book it and continue my patrol, though not before turning invisible.

I don't know why, or _how_ , but I could feel his dark eyes on me as I flew away.

The night was otherwise pleasant. No crimes took place, and with a powerful ghost - relatively - such as Technus easily caught, the others laid low.

I was bored out of my mind.

Ok, so _maybe_ I was a _little_ tired of the Amity gig. Danny had done a great job ridding the city of its worst threats, leaving me to deal with the regulars. I swear, people were no more scared of Skulker than they were of catching a cold, these days. I get why he left, though he never really explained why it was such a sudden departure. Amity Park was a stagnant city, and wanting to spend his life here was not amongst his priorities.

It wasn't one of mine, either.

To be fair, I didn't really know what else I'd be doing. The Ghost Zone was a no-no for me, since almost everyone was kind of tired of me there. I really don't mean to brag, but I'd become too strong to fight on a regular basis, unless you were as thick-headed as my friend in the Thermos, or as powerful as Vortex. I still had friends there, and a few places to stay, but the truth is, I'd really be as stagnant there as I was here.

Travelling around the world was definitely a possibility, though I'd be letting down Danny and the city. I'm sure Valerie - my roommate and fellow ghost hunter - could handle the protection duty on her own, but I didn't want to do that to her. She had finally settled down her rather chaotic life with a nice job and a cute boyfriend on the side, after all.

It was getting hard, to be honest, seeing all those superheroes out there, fighting real villains. The Avengers, obviously, and those new heroes out of New York that seemed to pop up every week or so. I _was_ a hero, just...I guess I didn't feel as free as they seemed. Like a ghost from the old stories, I was bound to my haunt, and it didn't look like I'd be leaving it soon.

My thoughts took me to the city park, looking for a decent branch on which to lie down for a while. It wasn't every night that I could afford that luxury, and I planned on taking advantage of it.

I found one, alright.

The stranger - at this point stalker, really - sat on a perfectly good branch, idly swinging one of his feet, looking directly at me again. He couldn't have been more than twenty, but his presence was that of an older man. He narrowed those unnerving eyes, and I forced myself to focus on something else. He had worn boots on, black jeans, and a skull-themed t-shirt under the aviator jacket. A jeweled skull ring adorned the ring finger on his left hand, and a leather belt hung at his waist.

I frowned. Was that a _sword_?

He nodded at me, though his face was still marred by a small scowl. I frowned, turning invisible again, and flying a short distance away.

"I can still see you." -he finally said, having tracked my flight path. He had a strange accent, like someone who was raised on a foreign language but had abandoned it in favor of english long ago.

I turned visible again. "Right... _why_?"

He smirked sarcastically. "You're a ghost, aren't you?"

"I'm _so_ impressed by your deductive skills. What was your first clue, the floating, or the invisibility?" -I asked him.

"Your phasing through solid pavement, actually. You know, ghosts don't _usually_ talk to me like this." -he said, turning his weird skull ring around his finger.

I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? What's the usual deal, then?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Deference, respect, obedience...all things expected of one who is dealing with royalty."

I scoffed. Whatever he might've looked like, regal was _not_ an adjective I would use to describe him. Dangerous, untrustworthy, suspect, were among those I _would_. "Right, _your highness_. If you'll excuse me, I have a city to protect." -I said, then flew away, to the other side of the park.

Just as I was setting up for a nice power nap, I heard the young man's voice again.

"The city may be yours to protect, but I believe you were done for the night." -he claimed. He was leaning against the trunk of a thick tree.

" _Why_ are you following me?" -I asked, crossing my arms and flaring my ghostly eyes in annoyance.

He shrugged, utterly unintimidated. "Believe me, if I had any say in the matter, we wouldn't be having this conversation. I'm unfortunately on a mission. I've been sent to...recruit you, I suppose." -he said.

" _Recruit_ me? For _what_? I hate to break it to you, but I'm not much of a follower." -I said.

The stranger scoffed. "Of _course_ you don't. We know that. You're the free spirit type, pardon the pun. Or, am I wrong?"

I just shook my head. "I am _not_ actually having a conversation with you."

I swiftly left the park, looking for the tallest building in Amity for some privacy.

The bastard was there. This time, I saw how he did it. From a shadow cast by an antenna on the rooftop, the shape of a human formed. It resolved into the stalker after a second or two, and he looked at me like he knew my curiosity was winning me over.

"Well?" -he asked cockily.

"Who... _what_ are you?" -I asked, finally landing so I'd be ready should the situation with this person came to blows.

"A human, same as you. Well, half-human, _same as you_." -he said, and I felt my stomach churn. He wasn't even _from_ town, and he'd already figured out my secret.

"What you just did is _not_ an ability your regular human has." -I said, sneering.

He made a gesture as if to say, 'What're ya gonna do?'. "As I said, half-human. Your other half is what _you_ call a ghost. _Mine_ is a god. Nico di Angelo, son of Hades, Lord of the Dead. Pleased to meet you." -he said, extending his hand.

As soon as he said it, I felt it. I don't know if he'd been keeping it from me, or if I'd just been too distracted to notice. Ghosts had a very clear, bright aura, and Danny and I were no exceptions. This Nico guy had the opposite; it seemed as if his very presence dimmed the lights, as if the shadows clung to him in adoration. His aura pulled at mine, somehow, and I had to make sure I wasn't actually moving. I could _feel_ his power, the way one feels the sun's touch. I couldn't really help it; I instantly believed his origin story. Being the son of a god would certainly explain him.

Before I thought about it, I was shaking his hand. His grip was stronger than a normal human's, but I could still very easily crush his hand, so I took care not to. Still, he must have felt it, since he winced slightly.

"Danielle. Not as pleased." -I replied, finally.

He shrugged. "I'm used to that. I _do_ apologize for pestering you, but...well, we could really use your help."

I crossed my arms. "What could the son of a greek _god_ need me for?"

Nico di Angelo leaned against the antenna. "In my world, I'm known as the Ghost King. We both know someone else who might be considered a king amongst ghosts."

I did. "Danny?"

He nodded. "I've worked with the Phantom for nearly a year. He's a good man, and a _very_ powerful warrior. We form part of a team that deals with supernatural threats, the likes of which mundane heroes like your Avengers cannot hope to handle."

I blinked. I didn't know anything about it; Danny said he was working security at a government agency when he announced he had his first job. I thought it was highly ironic.

"About two weeks ago, we encountered a being that had been murdering individuals with known criminal pasts. This... _vigilante_ creature was powerful. I hate to say it, but he defeated me and most of my teammates. Danny remained standing, and he managed to damage it enough to force a stalemate. The entity tried to escape, but he wouldn't have it. Danny opened a portal to your Ghost Zone, taking the creature with him to more favorable grounds."

It made sense. If he wanted to defeat a creature as powerful as that, the Zone was an excellent place to go to. He'd heal a lot quicker, and he'd know the terrain.

Nico looked downcast. "As I said, it's been two weeks. We have not heard from him since."

I felt my stomach drop. Danny meant the world to me; he'd given me a home, purpose, and a family. Even if I wasn't all that happy with my current situation, it was still the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me. Not to mention the fact that we were technically siblings.

"What do you want me to do? What can I even _do_ , if an entire team, Danny included, couldn't beat that thing?" -I asked uncertainly.

"Don't sell yourself short, Danielle. You are strong, in ways Phantom is not. But, let's cross that bridge when we get to it. For now...how do you feel about being a tour guide?"

* * *

 **What do you think? I've wanted to involve the Percy Jackson franchise with my MCU for a long time. Do let me know if you like or dislike this. I won't change it, of course, but I'll appreciate the feedback!**


	3. Chapter 2: Show-off

**This story is really pleasant to write for, which only makes it more annoying that I'm so slow at it. A warning, before you read: please remember this is a multicrossover. It's set in the MCU, but there's not that much of a presence on their part for now. Next chapter we should get more into how this story ties in to the MCU proper. Enjoy!**

* * *

Di Angelo asked to meet with me the next morning, on the outskirts of town. I let Valerie know I might be out of town for a few days, which she clearly found odd, but didn't ask me about. I got a good night's sleep, shifted back to ghost mode, and flew off.

There was no one there when I arrived, which I thought was seriously rude. Still, I only had to wait five minutes until he arrived, doing his shadow thing again.

"You're early. I'm impressed." -he said, looking me over.

He wore a different outfit, this time, a trenchcoat over what appeared to be an ancient greek-styled breastplate, cargo pants, and boots. All in black and gray, of course. His sword was a lot more prominently displayed, inside an ornate scabbard. The wild crow's nest that was his hair was pulled back into a ponytail, I imagined, so it wouldn't get in the way in a fight.

I still just wore my jumpsuit, a two-piece black and gray set that bared my midriff, with the DP logo on my chest. It was a _little_ outdated -not to mention a little too tight, since it hadn't exactly grown with me - but I had no clue what else to use as my heroic look. At least we shared a taste in hairdos, as my snow-white hair was also pulled out of the way into a ponytail.

"Couldn't bear the excitement." -I replied, sarcastically.

He smirked. "You're sure we can use the Portal?"

I nodded. "The Fentons are rarely ever home anymore, and their security won't attack if you're with me."

Nico nodded, too. "Alright. There's a few things you should know about us, before we start. I _assume_ you're pretty good at keeping secrets, like your brother, but I'll ask you anyway. Do _not_ reveal any of what you may learn about us, to anyone."

I chuckled. "You sound like you're part of the Illuminati or something, dude."

He frowned. "This is serious, Danielle. Some things, the mortals are not ready to learn. There is magic, and there are gods. Life does not necessarily end after death. These are simple facts you and I live by. Meanwhile, there are many mortals out there that believe that the moon landing was staged, or that the Chitauri are computer animated."

I held my hands up in surrender. "Alright, I get it. We're still too much for them. I won't talk."

He narrowed his eyes. "We'll see. Let's start with the basics. I've told you who - and what - I am. A demigod, son of Hades, greek god of the dead, and a mortal woman. Much like you, I am the best of two worlds - mortal, and divine. I am stronger, faster, more durable than almost any comparable human of my age and build, and I've inherited several abilities from my father's side of the family." -he stated, raising his hand as it became wreathed in a dark purple aura.

The ground beneath us shook slightly, prompting me to float away from it. Skeletal hands flourished from the earth like particularly macabre flowers, pulling the corresponding body up until a full human skeleton stood in front of us, covered in dirt and staring in my general direction with its empty eye sockets.

"I can summon and control the bodies of the dead. They will obey my every command. Depending on how many I summon, I may become rapidly drained, so do keep that in mind, in the inevitable case we fight alongside each other. Aside from that, I'm mostly just a swordfighter." -he said, pulling out his pitch black sword.

He twirled it around a couple of times. "This is Stygian iron. Deadly if it cuts you, no matter how shallow the wound may be. It also has the nifty ability of 'drinking' the life essence from its targets, healing me." -he said, then slashed clean through the skeleton, breaking the bones which then disintegrated into dust. The blade gleamed for a second, and Nico breathed in deeply as if he'd just awoken from a refreshing nap.

I gave him an impressed grin. " _Nice_. Second wind every time you kill something."

He shrugged, sheathing the dangerous weapon. "More or less. I'm good at swordplay, but either way, stay out of my reach at all times. I'm not quite sure how you'd be affected, since you're already half dead, but I'd rather _not_ find out."

"On that, we agree. So...what's next? Your life story or something?" -I asked, crossing my arms.

He scoffed. "Of course not. _That_ has no bearing on our mission."

I frowned. "If we're going to be fighting together, we should _probably_ not be complete strangers. Whatever my genetics may say, I am _not_ Danny Fenton."

He blushed slightly. "No, I didn't mean...look, it's a _long_ story, and one that's particularly hard for me to tell. Later, when we have some time to waste...maybe. For now, let's stick to the simpler things."

I rolled my eyes, slightly amused. " _Right_. Because demigods and ghosts are... _simple_."

"For the purposes of fighting alongside each other, yes, we are. I already know most of your abilities, but, as you so adamantly put, you are not your brother. Anything different about you I should know?" -he asked.

I pursed my lips. "I'm...well, I'm faster than Danny. Used to be he was the fastest, but he went more along the bruiser route. I grew up to be a little more squirrely, but I can still take a bunch of hits no problem."

He nodded. "I caught that yesterday. You shrugged off an explosion."

I rolled my shoulder awkwardly. "Eh, fire is not much of an issue with me. Danny's good with the cold. I don't have that, but I compensate by being able to throw fire around." -I said, summoning green flame to my right hand.

I'd had a very difficult time, learning how to wield my ghostly fire. Frostbite and his people couldn't help me out like they did with Danny, so I had to look for...alternatives. Ghostly fire was rare, thanks to the inherent coldness of, well, dead people. The only ghosts who could probably help were either violent dragons, or an apathetic singer.

In the end, I went with the humanoid one, but _that's_ a story for another time.

Nico had a very particular smile on his face, like he'd expected my hand to burst into flame. "You don't seem surprised." -I said, a little disappointed.

He hummed. "If we're being honest, I was kind of counting on it. Let's just say it'll come in handy when we find the entity."

I frowned when I noticed he didn't mention Danny, but I didn't say anything. "I guess. Aside from that, I'm a little more creative with with my ghost rays, but that's about it."

He nodded. "Very well. I think you're ready for the next step."

I gave him a cheeky smirk. "Why Nico, I had no clue you felt that way about me."

He grimaced, like he was regretting some particularly recent life choices, but said nothing at me. He tapped his ear instead. "Ok, the way is clear, come on out."

With a loud _crack,_ like someone had swung a whip, a woman appeared out of thin air in front of us. The first thing I noticed about her was her hair; it was bright orange, almost like a carrot, but it seemed like her natural color. She was shorter than Nico and I, and paler, too, her skin plagued with freckles. Her eyes were a warm brown. The young woman was dressed in a leather-like outfit, consisting of a chestpiece, armbands, and boots. Under the leather she wore a flowing red tunic with muted gold trim. She held a wooden stick in one hand, for some reason.

She smiled at me, and I blushed. The girl was beautiful, in that girl-next-door sort of way. Of the many things I'd inherited from Danny, liking girls was probably the most annoying to me. It felt like my genes were betraying me, as if I'd like boys if I were my own girl, and not a mishap of a clone. I smiled shakily back.

Nico's expression was amused, probably having noticed my blush. "Danielle, this is Ginevra Weasley."

The woman in question extended her hand. "Pleased to meet you, love. Though Ginny will do just fine." -she said with a peppy british accent, throwing a mildly annoyed frown at Nico.

"Uh, hey. I'm Danielle, but you can call me Ellie." -I replied, not very gracefully.

She winked, then looked at Nico. "So, we're headed back to base?"

He nodded. "She still has to meet the boss." -he said with a smirk.

"Oh, dear. You're in for it now, Ellie." -she said, mock-wincing.

I frowned worriedly. "Starting to feel like this is a bad idea, guys."

Ginny bat her hand, waving away my comment. "Don'y worry, you'll love the guy. Just make sure you don't stare at anything."

"Or touch anything." -Nico suggested.

"Or speak. At all." -she added cheekily. She then pulled out a sock from a pocket in her tunic. It looked worn, though not dirty. I wasn't one for grossing out easily, but I still found it more than a little odd.

She offered it up to us. I raised an eyebrow, but Nico did not hesitate, immediately grabbing at it and watching my face expectantly.

Ginny chuckled. "Oh, the prat didn't tell you about the portkey, did he? This old sock is enchanted. It'll take us where we need to go as soon as you hold onto it."

Nico shrugged. "I wanted to see how she'd react."

I growled at him, holding onto the garment. "So, how does this- " -I started to say, and then felt a powerful tugging at my belly.

The world vanished, instantly replaced with a blurry vortex of every color imaginable. I tried to close my enhanced eyes to avoid the overload, but found that I couldn't move a muscle.

The event seemed to last for hours, but I consciously knew that no time had passed at all. The colorful storm stopped as soon as it started, and I was violently thrown into something hard and gray.

My physiology made the impact little more than a bump, even though I heard a sharp crack and felt debris on my hair. I blinked a couple of times anyway, just so I could get my bearings.

Ginny's gorgeous visage - ugh, I was already idealizing her - filled my vision. "Bloody Hell, Ellie are you alright?" -she asked me worriedly.

I heard Nico behind her. "You know she is. Her kind can take a lot worse than being flung at a concrete wall." -he said, though I could hear some worry in his tone.

I floated until I stood upright. "I'm fine, though I can't say I enjoyed the experience."

Ginny rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah...that one's on me. I'm rather shoddy at making portkeys, and this one was a little rushed on top." -she said, nodding at Nico.

He smirked. "Come on. Doc Strange wants to meet with you."

I looked around, brushing the concrete from my hair. We were in an alley, and I could see some civilians walking at the entrance.

"Where are we?" -I asked.

"New York. Greenwich Village, to be precise." -Nico answered, and then he snapped his fingers. For a second, I saw...white fog. Then, nothing.

"What was that?"

It was Ginny who answered. "Nico's got a fancy trick to keep the muggles' minds from breaking. I still prefer a trusty _confundus_ charm, but to each their own, I suppose."

Nico rolled his eyes. "The _Mist_ is not a simple trick. It's powerful divine magic that veils the eyes of mortals, protecting their innocence by showing them what they _want_ to see, instead of _us_ , armed and armored."

"Not that the yanks seem to care if they see something odd, these days." -Ginny pointed out.

"True enough. Come on, it's just around the corner. And _try_ not to float. The Mist can only cover so far."

* * *

 **Yeah! Another character from another fandom. There's...two or three more still to introduce, but for now, welcome Ginny into the team. I wanted a wizard from Harry Potter to make an appearance very badly (my basis for making this team is basically young heroes with a penchant for magic or similar activities), thus connecting the HP universe with my own Marvel one. I chose Ginny because a) I love her character (and she is inspired by the book version), and b) Anyone from the so-called Golden Trio felt too...famous? Recognizable? Ginny doesn't get written a lot, so I definitely wanted to give her a shot. Plus, she seems adventurous enough to go on a heroic quest before she marries Harry.**

 **One of the concepts I want to delve into is Ellie's struggle to differentiate herself from Danny while loving him as a brother. She's got a lot of issues: being raised with a more ghostly mindset, stagnation in Amity, the fact that (this version of her, at least) is unwillingly bisexual, and this new team of people she's about to get to know. This is the story in a nutshell, and I hope you stick around to read it!**

 **On to the next chapter! - Darthkvzn**


	4. Chapter 3: 177A Bleecker Street

**Shorter chapter, this one, but as compensation it's the second one in a day. Enjoy!**

* * *

177A Bleecker Street was a small but still very elegant mansion. It had that ageless look about it, like it could've been built in the seventies, or the 1770's. The people on the street seemed to avoid it like the plague, but it didn't look like they were doing so intentionally. More like a subconscious response.

Nico knocked once, and the door opened itself immediately. "What, no security?" -I asked.

Ginny chuckled. "Trust me, there are enough spells and wards in this place to put a nuclear bunker to shame."

Nico nodded, entering the manor. I followed suit. The interior was pretty much what I pictured; a long, narrow hallway leading into a larger room. The walls were lined with paintings and tapestries - some of them were moving, oddly enough - and guarded by armors of various periods in human history - as well as others I did not recognize.

Nico led the way, and we walked into a large hall. The place was dark, but there were windows here. A huge, ancient globe of the Earth was in the middle of the room, slowly turning. Hundreds of tiny light sources seemed to emanate from distinct locations in the world.

"Oi Doc, we're home!" -shouted Ginny, making Nico cringe slightly.

In response, the floor sprouted floating wooden steps, leading all the way up to a second floor which I could swear did not exist a second before.

"I am upstairs." -answered someone up there. The voice sounded calm, patient, and mature, like that of a good teacher.

I looked at Nico, who shrugged. "Sometimes, he's in a bad mood."

Ginny ran up the stairs fearlessly. I floated after her, with Nico in tow.

The ginger chose a door and went inside. I followed, and found myself looking at a rather glum scene.

There was a large bed, with a rather beat up young woman on it. A man in lush black and red robes stood above her, passing glowing golden hands mere inches above her prone form. The woman seemed calmly asleep, but every so often her face would contort in pain, likely due in part to the angry red wounds all over her body. She wore only white undergarments, and not the modern kind, more like cloth wrappings, which stood out against her darker skin tone. I turned away in embarrassment after my initial shock.

The man turned to us, stopping his hand gestures. He had a proud, narrow, stern face, with high cheekbones and blue eyes, though he looked tired and sober. His hair was somewhat short, and so was his goatee, mostly black but flecked with white, betraying his age.

His visage illuminated slightly when he saw me. "Greetings, child. I am Stephen Strange, Earth's Sorcerer Supreme." -he said.

"Hi, I'm Danielle. Though I guess you already knew that?"

He nodded. "Through your brother, yes. Daniel has worked with me for some time. His knowledge and experience has proved invaluable to our...project." -he said, looking sadly at the woman behind him.

"I don't wanna sound rude, but...what _is_ your project? Your messenger wasn't all that keen on the details." -I said, glancing at Nico, who just shrugged.

Strange sighed. "Yes, that does sound like Mr. Di Angelo. The people you see assembled before you are part of an Initiative pitched by the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. to combat potential paranormal threats to humanity and the Earth as a whole."

"I was approached first. As Earth's Sorcerer Supreme, I have been tasked with protecting the world from rogue magical phenomena. It was only natural that I partner with the agency, making use of their _extensive_ surveillance network to more effectively fulfill my obligations. It also led us to your two new acquaintances."

Nico rolled his eyes. " _You_ didn't find anyone that didn't want to be found. Thanks to the Battle of Manhattan, the power of the Mist was severely depleted. People's belief in the supernatural threatened to boil over, and with that would come the shocking revelation of the existence of greek gods and monsters. My uncle decided to send _me_ to secure a transition that wouldn't have the government blowing up the Empire State Building. That's Olympus, by the way." -he said, annoyed.

Ginny shrugged. "I'm just a random witch. I used to play on a... _sports_ team across the pond. Retired early, settled down. I was always one for adventure, though, and my fiancée suggested I visit the States for a couple of weeks. Picture my surprise when I arrived at the airport to these two nutters and your brother wanting me for a warrior."

I felt my stomach drop at the mention of her imminent marriage. Now that I knew what to look for, I could see the band on her left ring finger, mostly concealed by her fingerless gloves.

Strange gave me an odd knowing smirk. "Miss Weasley does not like to brag, but she is a decorated war hero, and a significantly skilled witch."

She crossed her arms. "Bloody Rider proved that wrong, eh? Anyway, I'm on an extended vacation, I suppose. Wizarding Britain isn't all that worried about the muggles finding us out. They took the elves and Thor duking it out fairly well, so we figure wizards secretly living among them can't scare them too badly."

I hummed. "And her?" -I asked, nodding at the unconscious girl.

Strange sighed sadly, before managing a small smile. "The unlucky young woman in the healing trance would probably wish to introduce herself, so I shall leave that pleasure to her. She should be on her feet soon enough; I only needed to figure out how to counteract her magical injuries."

It didn't look like it was healing to me, but I was far from an expert on magically induced wounds. "Alright, I guess."

Ginny put a hand to my shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Ellie. She's tougher than she looks."

I nodded. I didn't know the bedridden woman, but I'd been in her spot before. Fighting for my life against an enemy you couldn't just punch. Her, with her magical wounds, me when I used to be an unstable mess of ectoplasm. I looked back at my two new friends. Nico nodded at me. "Come on. Let's get started."

* * *

 **So, who's the girl in the bed? What did you think of Doctor Strange? I'm going off what little I know about him, images of Benedict Cumberbatch as him, and my own imagination on what he'd be like. Doc Strange is a little arrogant and sometimes callous, but he'd want to make a good impression, I think. Next chapter should contain a bunch of world building and the next stage in plot development. Exciting! Until next time! - Darthkvzn**


	5. Chapter 4: Hawaiian Recruitment Roadtrip

**Big update this time, since we haven't had one for a bit. I want to personally thank each and every one of you who've stuck with this cracky little fic. I usually take my stories way too seriously, but I wanted this one to have that mad quality to it. Multiple fandom crossovers will do that to you. In any case, I've tried not to let this story get away from me, hold it to my usual standards. Hopefully that comes across.**

 **On this chapter, we get to see a glimpse of the potential extent of this crossover, some insight into Nico and Ginny's characters, and a little bit of the way their worlds interact with the MCU. Danielle struggles with her one-sided crush, and the team sets off to find recruits. And finally, the identity of the antagonist! I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

The Earth spun lazily in the center of the room.

"So, what's the deal with the old-school model?" -I asked, floating up to it. The globe was incredibly detailed, down to the tiny, unnamed islands in the middle of the sea that no one cares about. It was updated, too, since it had the artificial, mutant-populated island of Utopia, smack-dab in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle.

Doctor Strange calmly walked towards it. "This globe is a real-time record of the positioning of every known magical occurrence on the planet. It is a rather handy tool, and it should help with Mr. Di Angelo's plan to defeat the Ghost Rider."

"Is that the monster we're looking for?" -I asked.

Strange nodded, producing an image from the palm of his hand. It was a skeleton, wreathed in fire, and oddly wrapped in a leather jacket and pants. Red-hot chains were wrapped around his wrists. "A human, possessed by a demonic spirit of vengeance. I am unsure how the mortal became a host to it, but it seems to have completely taken over his psyche. Daniel's attempts to get through to him were all fruitless."

Nico shook his head. "To be fair, there wasn't all that much talking. The Rider attacked almost immediately."

I nodded. "How're we doing this, then?" -I asked, looking at the demigod.

He looked up at the globe. "The last time we faced the Rider, we lost. Badly. The three of us were not powerful enough to defeat him, and so we have to gather allies."

Ginny crossed her arms. "It's not as simple as that, though. We need young people, like us. The Rider has a power that is lethal to experienced fighters, on top of his bloody fire chains."

I hummed. "Who do we ask onto our little party, then?"

"Doc Strange has a couple of ideas. Not that I approve of them, exactly." -said Nico, crossing his arms.

Strange gestured at the globe, which turned to show me the northwest portion of the United States. "There is a small, relatively peaceful coven of vampires living in Washington. Their youngest is a hybrid, much like you and Mr. Di Angelo. I believe she would make a fine addition to the team, but I'm afraid I understand his concern. Vampires are untrustworthy at best, and they are bound by strict laws that severely limit their interaction with humans."

Ginny hummed. "I've only ever met the one vampire. Odd fellow, very unhappy looking. Desperately wanted to drink our blood. Maybe not the best choice for a teammate?"

I imagined half-ghost blood wouldn't be too appealing, but we _did_ have a demigod on the team. "I've had worse people fighting alongside me, but I guess you guys know your stuff. Who's next?" -I asked.

Strange tapped the globe again, and it spun to the American Northeast. "William Kaplan. A boy, here in New York. He's young, and powerful, but he's not yet been formally trained. I seek to make him my pupil soon." -Strange said.

"Sounds good. What's the catch?" -I asked.

Strange sighed. "Unfortunately for our purposes, William is only human. Powerful though he may be, any harm inflicted by the Rider upon him would likely kill him."

"So...he's a maybe, then." -I said jokingly.

The sorcerer smirked slightly. "Indeed."

Nico hummed. "I think you should go talk to him. Let him know what he would be dealing with. If he's cool with it, he gets to join."

I nodded approvingly. "Anyone else?"

Strange stroked his chin. "None that I can currently think of."

Nico gestured at the globe which turned again to show me the island chain of Hawaii - only, it looked a little longer than I remembered. Strange scowled. "I suppose it's _my_ turn to disapprove."

The demigod raised an eyebrow. "You said it yourself; he fits the bill. Young, powerful, magical."

Strange sighed. "Yes. _Alien_ magic. It's an unknown that the team does not need. You are inexperienced in combat together as it is."

"Oh, come on, Doc. You had no problems with Danny or Ellie, why turn down these guys?" -asked Ginny.

Doctor Strange lifted his arms in defeat. "It only seems unwise. In any case, it is ultimately up to you. The team is yours to form." -he said to Nico.

I frowned. "Wait, you told me you 'didn't have any say in the matter' about recruiting _me_."

Nico scowled. "I _did_ say that, huh? Look, I'll be honest with you: Phantom was very protective of you, wouldn't reveal much more than your existence. When we met, it showed how little I knew of you. I thought you were little more than one of your _ghosts_. I figured out the clone hybrid thing by myself."

"Is _that_ why you were such a pompous douche, Mr. Ghost King?" -I asked teasingly.

The son of Hades grimaced, but nodded. "Right. _Anyway_ , we have a plan to follow. Let's get to Hawaii."

Ginny pouted as she prepared to leave. "I _knew_ I should've packed a bikini."

I rolled my eyes, ignoring the slight flush of my cheeks. As my teammates walked towards the entrance, I looked at the globe one last time, wondering just how desperate Danny's situation was. I wasn't the only one - Doctor Strange silently watched over the world as well. I wished I could learn a little more about him, get to know the supposed Sorcerer Supreme of the world. There was unfortunately no time for that. It would have to wait.

* * *

Shadow travelling is the worst. Literally, I've never experienced something so awful before, and I've been on the verge of _actual_ disintegration. It's darker than the darkest of blacks, there are awful eldritch sounds all around you, and the shadows are literally consuming you as you go. According to Nico, using it in quick succession won't only tire you, it'll actually dissolve your molecules.

At least the view was nice, once we got there.

Ginny and I stood on a cliff, facing the ocean, Nico kneeling right beside us. The water was relatively calm, a beautiful shade of light blue that just begged for swimmers. The cliff itself was covered sparsely in green, and the rock it was formed of was layered with different tones of gray and black that betrayed its volcanic nature. Unfortunately, we were not here for a tour.

Nico rose, drawing in a deep breath, looking haggard and paler than usual. "Ok. Forgot how much that takes out of you." -he said, shaking his head and panting.

"You alright?" -I asked, uncertain.

He nodded. "Yeah, just...need a minute. You go ahead and scout the area."

Ginny and I looked at each other, and shrugged. I flew upwards, scanning for anything out of the ordinary. Once I was high enough, I saw a city and several other small islands in the distance, on the opposite side of whatever island Nico had decided to spit us out at. Aside from a flock of birds nesting on the cliff face, we were alone as far as I could see.

I landed next to the demigod, who looked a lot better, as he scanned the horizon. "No one's around." -I said.

Ginny did her teleportation thing, and reported the same thing. Nico nodded. "Good. Now we get to Beach City."

I snorted. "What kind of name is _that_?"

He gave me an amused side glance. "Says the girl from Amity Park. Beach City's not exactly a part of Hawaii, but it's very close. About fifteen miles that way." -he said, pointing at the horizon, opposite civilization.

I blinked. "You _can_ see that's open ocean, right? There's nothing there."

Ginny winked. "First rule regarding magical places: never trust your eyes."

"Ginny's right. Beach City is protected by powerful wards. It might as well be in another dimension, as it cannot be seen by humans, nor can it be landed on." -Nico said.

"How exactly do you plan to get there, then?" -I asked, frowning.

He shrugged. "Simple. You fly us to it."

While I had no trouble lifting a couple of lightweights like them, I shook my head. "That still doesn't solve the problem. The problem being the invisible, intangible island."

He chuckled. "Danielle, I said _humans_ can't see or land on it. We're not exactly humans, and the island's magic will recognize that when we approach it."

I blinked. " _Okay_...you're the expert, I guess."

He rolled his eyes, walking up to me. Ginny did the same, and I grabbed onto their hips. I hoped Ginny wouldn't notice my blush, but it _was_ green, so I didn't put much faith in that. Instead, I focused on the horizon ahead; for a while, there'd be nothing but water.

"This is weird." -I stated after a minute.

"What, you carrying us like sacks of potatoes, or our destination being an invisible island?" -asked Nico, sarcastically.

"Both."

Ginny snorted. "We should talk about ourselves, pass the time and all."

Nico grunted. "What's there to talk about? We already know who and what we are."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Alright, you prat, be that way." -she said, then turned to me. "Why don't you tell us some about yourself?"

I hummed nervously. "Umm, what would you like to know?"

She shrugged. "Favorite food, life goals, the color of your underwear…"

The sound that came from my throat was _not_ human. I nearly dropped them from embarrassment. Ginny looked amused. "Whoa, Ellie, I was just messing with ya."

Nico, who was looking a little green and muttering some kind of prayer, piped up. "Gods, you two will be the death of me."

I coughed. "Uh, isn't that _your_ thing?"

He rolled his eyes. "Hades is the god of the _dead_ , not the god of death. _Everyone_ gets it wrong…"

I smirked. "Sorry. So are there more like you?"

"Demigods? Too many. Between the greek and roman aspects of the Olympians, there must be a couple hundred."

Ginny laughed. "I see the gods are busy."

Nico grimaced. "You joke, but that's too true. Why there are still any marriages left standing in Olympus, I'll never know."

"So is _every_ demigod a product of infidelity, then?" -I asked.

He shook his head. "No. Athena's children are legitimate, for example. The gods rarely see mortals as more than playthings and/or amusing creatures, or useful tools at best, I'm afraid. I know my father loved my mother, but then again, Hades has had very few half-blood kids. Less than a dozen in three thousand years or so. My... _siblings_ usually earn a lot of fame. Or infamy, rather."

"Share a father with anyone we might know?" -I teased.

"Adolf Hitler." -he said, deadpan.

I wisely shut up about that. "Demigods." -said Ginny, darkly amused.

"Demigods." -Nico agreed.

"Is it true, then? That our magic comes from the gods?" -she asked Nico, probably referring to an earlier conversation.

He nodded uncertainly. "I think so. My theory is that you're distant legacies of Hecate, goddess of magic. Your magical aura reminds me of her children, though it also feels like it's been...diluted."

"What's a legacy?" -I asked.

Ginny snorted. "Well, when mommy demigod and daddy mortal love each other very much…"

I blushed, and, oddly enough, Nico did as well. "What Ginny _meant_ to say is, legacies are the descendants of half-bloods. They're fairly rare, and _rather_ unpredictable."

"How so?"

He hummed. "Well, demigods don't have much of a life expectancy. Just as your _ghosts_ are drawn to fight you, monsters come after us to test our might. Thing is, they're not very patient; they usually start coming when the kids are at ten to twelve years old. Unless you're powerful, lucky, or have a guardian of some kind, you're pretty screwed."

"Which were you?"

He was silent for a moment. "Certainly not lucky. Either way, if you get to an older age, enough to have children...well, your kids, they might have no power at all, or be much stronger than you ever were. Demigods were never really meant to survive for long, and it shows."

I nodded, mulling the information over. Nico had sure been talkative for someone who didn't want to share his past.

A couple minutes passed until Ginny piped up again. "This flying's nice and all, but I miss my broom."

I snorted. "Stereotype, much?"

She stuck her tongue out. "Oh, sod off. Only reason a flying broom's a stereotype is 'cause some ancient muggle caught a glimpse of it and decided to write a story about it, the prat."

" _Muggle?_ "

She nodded. "Non-magic folk. Though I suppose the meaning's a little blurry, these days. We're not too odd for the modern world anymore, if your superheroes are anything to go by."

"Still, with your recent history, maybe it'd be best if you stayed hidden." -countered Nico.

Ginny nodded. "True enough."

I blinked. "Uh, newbie here, what're you talking about?"

Ginny got a dark look on her eyes, something I didn't expect from her ever cheery and playful disposition. "I'm twenty-two years old. When I was sixteen, Wizarding Britain lived through one of its worst periods in recorded history. A dark wizard, long thought dead, returned and took over for almost two years. Hundreds died. One of my brothers, Fred, was one of them."

The redhead looked sad, but in a forlorn kind of way. She'd had time to come to terms with her brother's passing, apparently. "I'm very sorry." -I said.

She smiled. "People say we're lucky. We were seven siblings, and we only lost one. Doesn't really feel that way, y'know? At least Harry gave us closure."

Noticing my confused expression, she smacked her forehead. "Oh! Sorry, Harry Potter. My fiancée. Love of my life and all." -she said jokingly, though her eyes betrayed the true extent of her feelings. My sudden crush was _very_ much in love with this Potter guy.

It felt like something had crashed around my stomach, but I kept my expression impassive. Ginny went on without a pause. "Harry defeated the dark wizard. In doing so, he obtained an item of his called the Elder Wand - just, y'know, the most powerful one in the world - and completed the set of Deathly Hallows - basically, magical artifacts left by Death itself on the world for people to kill each other over - earning himself the title of Master of Death."

Nico groaned. "You have no idea how frustrating this is, by the way. This makes _no_ sense; Thanatos would never willingly let anyone but my Father be his Master."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Oh, screw off, godling. You said it yourself. Same gods, they have different 'aspects'. Maybe Harry's the Master of british Death. Either way, one of the Hallows is the Resurrection Stone, which brings forth the spirits of the dead to commune with living for some time." -she said, then smiled wistfully. "We got to say goodbye to the friends and family we lost."

Nico was still miffed about the nonsense british death mechanics, but he stayed silent. "I wish Fred would've stayed for my wedding, but I guess the afterlife's too cool to miss." -she said, quietly amused.

I chuckled. "I mean, as an expert on what comes after we buy the farm, it _is_ pretty dope."

Nico just grit his teeth and growled in frustration, making Ginny cackle. "It certainly _looks_ like it. You better bring the party to my nuptials, love."

I chuckled nervously. " _Right_."

Nico shot me a weirdly knowing look, but just then, we crossed an invisible barrier - felt like when you go into a supermarket and you're blasted with cool air.

"I guess we're here." -I said, awed.

Beach City, or at least the island on which it was located, was not big. In fact, if not for the enormous statue of a multi-limbed woman sculpted from the cliff face we were flying towards, the place would barely count as more than a boardwalk. There were probably less than a couple dozen houses away from the coast, which meant the place couldn't house more than two-hundred people or so.

Nico hummed at my left. "Place has really grown since it was discovered. I'm not sure that's good." -he said.

"How many people lived here the last time?" -I asked.

"According to Doc Strange, only about twenty. Since the island is biased towards non-humans, only a few people find it every decade or so, supposedly. Mostly humans with magical ancestry, or those that have had accidental contact with the Crystal Gems." -he explained.

I blinked. "What are the Crystal Gems?"

"Sentient magical space rocks." -he said, straight-faced.

Since I understood nothing of that, I asked again. He sighed. "It's hard to explain. Gems are aliens. We're more on the supernatural side of things, but since they're _magical_ aliens, Strange convinced S.H.I.E.L.D. to get their extraterrestrial division to give _us_ the file on the Gems. You'll understand better once we meet them."

"Wait, you haven't even _met_ with them yet?" -I asked in disbelief.

He shook his head. "Strange has, but that was awhile ago, before Ginny or I joined the team."

Ginny piped up. "You have to wonder if the old sod was onto something when he suggested we look elsewhere for help." -she said uncertainly.

I sighed. "Well, we're here now. Guess it's worth a shot."

The sand on the beach we approached glowed faintly, as if ground jewels were mixed with it. The statue was easily over a hundred feet tall, carved out of the rock of the cliff, covered in a sort of moss, and depicted a beautiful woman looking over the ocean, with a sort of mask staring at the sky. It had multiple pairs of arms - at least three that I could see - one of which was housing a tiny, two-story shack around the belly level. On the whole, the setup was beautiful, and more than a little poignant, considering the giant woman dwarfed everything around it.

We landed, not really knowing what to expect. Ginny got her stick (wand?) out, Nico held a hand to his sword's pommel, and I made sure my fists were glowing menacingly green.

Then, the front of the house exploded.

* * *

 **I'm having a hard time keeping track of the number of fandoms that have bearing on this story! (Not really, it's four so far) I have been on a Steven Universe kick for the last few months (it's seriously fantastic) and I found him to be a great fit to this fic. It does make it perhaps a little too convoluted, but it's worth it in my eyes. I already have extensive headcanons on how this interaction works, so don't worry about it being incompatible, canon-wise. Next chapter will have some action, so do expect that!**

 **That's all for now! Let me know what you think, what you like and don't. I won't hold it against you (but I won't actually change the story, either). Until next time!**


	6. Chapter 5: Soulmates

For some reason, the explosion was _pink_ , and accompanied by a flash of white not unlike my transformation. I covered my face with my arms for a second, raising a glowing green ectoplasmic shield around us, but the explosion didn't really reach us aside from a few pieces of splintered wood. What _did_ land in front of us was a dazed looking young man, tall, and wide, built like one of those strongmen - stocky, even fat, but visibly muscular. He had on an open shirt, pink in color, with a red t-shirt underneath featuring a huge golden star. His outfit was completed by khaki shorts and sandals.

" _Steven!_ " -I heard a female voice shout. I dissipated the ecto-shield, and offered a hand to the young man. He took it, clearly confused as to who I was, but otherwise accepting of the glowing gloved limb. He didn't seem to weigh much, but I _did_ have an unfair advantage. He had a slightly impressive grip.

The woman who shouted reached us; she looked around my age, though thinner, more athletically built. She was dark-skinned, and her features were reminiscent of an indian woman. She wore a simple blue sundress and flats. The weird thing about _her_ was the giant pink sword she stabbed into the ground as soon as she reached the young man, apparently called Steven.

"Connie!" -he said, relieved. He had a much higher-pitched voice than I'd pictured, considering his short beard, voluminous hair, and imposing figure. The two hugged affectionately, to which Nico rolled his eyes and coughed.

The two turned towards us. "Uh, hi." -said Connie, then she turned back to Steven. "The Gem monster!" -she reminded him.

As she said it, we heard a guttural roar coming from the wrecked house. The head of a huge snake... _thing_ slithered out, shortly followed by a proportionally large body. It was blood red, scaled, and _angry_. I immediately raised my hand, wreathed in green ectoplasm. "Wait!" -said Nico. "Let them."

" _What!?_ "

He just nodded towards them.

In fact, the two in front of us were looking at each other with a tender smile that had my teeth rotting. Steven put his hands on Connie's hips, lifting her up into the air, twirling both of them around. Of _course_ , instead of just dancing like normal humans, that caused them to glow impossibly white, their bodies dissolving into light, and merging together into a single entity, a pink jewel - the famous Gem, I bet - visible at its core. When the light subsided, there was instead a freakishly tall woman - easily over eight feet tall - who was incredibly beautiful, her skin a dark tan color, her waist-length dark brown hair voluminous, and her features a mix of the two parts that I assumed formed her. Her clothes were also combined, as she had on a red crop top with the golden star and the open shirt over it, all Steven's, and his khaki shorts turned into daisy dukes the color of Connie's dress. She was barefoot, and her crop top let the rose-colored jewel that replaced her navel shine. I was stunned enough, but then she went ahead and formed a glowing pink shield on the back of her wrist, grabbing Connie's massive pink sword, which on her was a little more size-appropriate.

My teammates were equally shocked. " _That_...wasn't in the brochure..." -said Nico, meekly

The entity hardly acknowledged us, jumping right back into the fray, slashing at the serpent's body and managing to land a couple of superficial hits. She only seemed to anger the monster further, and it retaliated by trying to eat Steven/Connie.

They were impossibly fast and agile, however, staying just out of the monster's reach, yet close enough to continue damaging it. The fusion threw its shield at the snake's maw, Captain America style, which held it wide open and struggling to dislodge it. They took their chance, jumping high into the air, and bringing the mighty blade on its neck, beheading the monster cleanly. It exploded into light and dust, a single crystalline object falling to the sand.

The three of us stood there, mouths agape. I'd definitely seen weirder things, but not by much, and then _those_ two had looked fairly normal - right up until they'd become a single, badass, warrior lady. The demigod seemed to snap out of it quickest.

"Alright, we can go now." -said Nico, voice still a little shaky.

"Christ, Nico, you look horrid." -said Ginny, amused.

I agreed. "Like you've seen a _ghost_."

Nico groaned. "You have _no_ idea what it's like to be able to see souls and aurae. It's bad enough you and Phantom break literally all the rules regarding death - those two _literally_ blended their souls into an entirely new one in a second."

"Gives a whole new meaning to the term 'soulmates', huh?" -asked Ginny, a little dreamily.

Not appreciating _that_ particular line of thought, I went with something a little more appropriate. "Why did we wait? We could've taken that thing." -I asked.

He coughed nervously. "I've never seen a Crystal Gem in action. Plus, that _was_ a Gem monster, and Strange warned us _not_ to engage them unless absolutely necessary."

"Which is getting tiring. Honestly, I could use the target practice." -said Ginny, annoyed.

"You'll get it soon enough." -Nico said, darkly.

I rolled my eyes. "Come on, let's go meet and greet."

The three of us walked towards the merged being, currently generating a pink bubble around the crystal on the ground. They tapped the top of the floating sphere, and it vanished. Then they turned towards us.

I never thought I'd feel _slightly_ intimidated by a pastel-dressed beauty. This gig was turning out harder than I'd originally thought.

The woman smiled widely. "Hey! Sorry about that, Gem monsters aren't normally this strong. Or smart…" -they said. Their voice was, as expected, a mixture of both Steven and Connie's - feminine, but a little husky. They _looked_ like a woman: breasts, hips, overall proportions - _perfect_ ones, as far as I could tell. Aside from their laughably abnormal height, they could've passed off as your regular bombshell supermodel.

 _Wow_. He/she/they were _hot_ , up close.

Ginny waved it off while I had an existential crisis. "No worries. Sorry about your home." -she said sincerely.

The fusion shrugged. "Happens more than you'd think. I'm Stevonnie, by the way, but everyone here calls me 'Vonnie."

"Danielle." -I said meekly.

"Call me Ginny."

"And I'm Nico Di Angelo. We're with S.H.I.E.L.D. We'd like to talk to you about the Defenders Initiative." -he said.

It said a lot about the 'Defenders Initiative' that I'd literally never heard the name of it until now, but I held my tongue, wanting to make a good impression. Even added a thumbs-up for effect.

Stevonnie cocked their head. "Never heard of it. Do you mind if I make you wait a little longer? This corrupted Gem came from another place, and I should really get back and help."

Nico shook his head, but I took the initiative. "Actually, do you think we could join you? We're pretty good fighters and the redhead wants to practice on one of those monsters." -I said, pointing my thumb at an eager Ginny.

Stevonnie pursed their lips. "Are you sure? These things are no joke. They're not meant to be fought by regular people."

Ginny winked. "Not exactly 'regular', love." -she said, twirling her stick around her fingers with fairly impressive dexterity.

The fusion thought for a moment, but then nodded. "Alright. The more the merrier, I always say! Just be careful." -they said cheerily.

Stevonnie led the way up the stairs and through the hole that used to be the front porch. They walked with heavy steps - betraying their size and weight - towards a raised white crystalline platform in the middle of the wrecked house. When we all stood on it, a flash of light enveloped us, and we disappeared.


	7. Chapter 6: Underground Fight Club

**We're back! Here, have a fight scene!**

* * *

The place we arrived at - some kind of underground temple, judging by the pop in my ears and the engravings on the walls - was a war zone. Flashes of deadly light could be seen ahead of us, and there were several craters between the fight and us.

The fighters were... _odd_ , to say the least. There was a _really_ tall and pale one with four arms, wielding an enormous bow and shooting arrows made of light. It was fighting a black dragon-like enemy with two heads and four wings, which was shooting back purple fireballs, deftly evaded by the giant woman via moves that reminded me of ballet twirls.

Then there was a shorter one, this one bearing giant gauntlets, and rocking a perfectly cubical afro, shades, and a bodysuit with a star-like motif on the chest. She was fighting a weird cross between a crocodile and a frog.

Stevonnie grinned at us. "Come on!"

They manifested their shield and brought their sword up, issuing a war cry and leaping towards the fight, amazon style. The three of us looked at each other, smiling, then went to work.

Fortunately for us, the monsters had about a dozen friends. They were smaller, but much more disturbing and less coherent - they were made up of fused together humanoid body parts, torsos with multiple hands, hands attached to the top of legs, and a truly monstrous big boy with a featureless head, five legs, and one massive, muscular arm.

I took to the air, immediately blasting them with ecto-rays. The creatures screeched - how they did that without visible mouths I have no clue - but they still came. Nico brought out his black sword, slashing through two of them. They exploded into light and dust, leaving behind only Gem fragments. The demigod raised his hands and three skeletal warriors in corroded and broken ancient greek armor burst from the ground, bearing equally old bronze swords and keeping the monsters busy.

Ginny finally gave us a taste of her abilities, waving her stick around - which I'd deduced by now to be a magic wand, since she was a witch and all - moving out of the way of danger like a graceful dancer and shouting out nonsensical, pig-latin words that seemed to trigger her spells.

" _Incendio!_ " -a powerful gout of flame consumed an arm.

" _Bombarda!"_ -an explosion, as powerful as a grenade, eviscerated a pair of arms attached to some curvy hips.

" _Expulso!_ " -a leg that was getting too close to her flew away.

" _Protego!_ " -a fist that would've hit Nico was stopped by an invisible wall.

As for myself, well, I decided to take on the big boy. I charged up an ecto-ball and lobbed it at the creature. "Hey mittens, catch!"

The heavy, highly unstable orb made contact with it, exploding and sending the monster a few feet back in a heap. It still rose, zeroing on me. I flew at it, ducking under a massive swing and jabbing a couple of times at it. It squealed in pain from the superhuman punches, but managed to swipe one of its legs against mine, making me fall, right as it punched downward.

 _Ouch._

The massive fist hit me into the ground with enough force to pancake a car. Every bone in my body bent and creaked a little. It _hurt_ , but I could take it. I groaned in pain, phasing into the ground, then came up behind it and delivered a powerful, ecto-charged punch. The hit was so fast and strong it went _into_ the creature, making it explode like its brethren, a weird conglomerate of crystalline shards falling to the ground.

I stretched, feeling all of my joints pop. I felt for bruises, but none seemed to be forming yet. I saw Ginny come towards me. "Oi, you alright?" -she asked concernedly.

I nodded, wincing. "I'll feel it tomorrow, and _probably_ next week, but otherwise, I'm good."

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "You're tougher than you look, love." -she noted approvingly.

Before I could answer, the dragon monster belched fire towards us. I tackled Ginny to the ground, making us intangible, the fireball exploding harmlessly on and around us. Ginny waved her wand, shocked. " _Aguamenti_." -she whispered, and water flowed from the tip of the wooden stick, extinguishing the flames shortly.

I let the intangibility go, helping her to her feet. She was blushing slightly, so I imagine my cheeks were a bright green in return.

"You...saved my life." -she said, slightly distraught.

I smiled shakily, but there were more pressing matters, namely the dragon diving towards us. Angered, I flew like a rocket, closing the distance in a couple of seconds. It breathed purple fire at me, but I was immune to it, feeling it wash over me like warm water. I gave both of its snouts a quick one-two combo, then summoned a large amount of ectoplasmic energy, blasting the creature with a concentrated, two-handed beam.

The dragon monster tried to fight against the force of the beam, but it made the mistake of forgetting its initial opponent. I saw the giant woman nock a light arrow, then fire it at the creature's back.

Trapped between two powerful energy blasts, the monster crumbled. Or rather, _poofed_. A heavy, splintered purple Gem fell down to the ground, becoming bubbled in a turquoise sphere, before disappearing into thin air.

I landed, slightly tired from the effort. Ginny ran up to me, flustered. "Ellie, that was _wicked!_ "

I attributed the blush to the adrenaline of being near death. "Yeah? Kinda feels... _exhausting_."

In my defense, the last time I'd had to spend so much energy in such a short time, I'd kicked the crap out of Vlad.

She rolled her eyes. "Aaand now you've gone and made it boring. You're a riot, Miss Phantom."

I smirked. She looked like she was trying to ask me something, but the Gems were approaching, as was Nico.

"Nice work." -said the one with the afro and shades, Stevonnie nodding eagerly behind her as her pink shield dissipated. The Gem had a pleasant, deep voice, with a slightly british accent. She made her giant gauntlets glow and vanish.

I smiled. "Thanks."

"Garnet." -she said, offering a hand with a dark wine-colored gem embedded in the palm. I took it, surprised at how strong her grip was. She had full lips, and her visor-like sunglasses glinted with shades of red or blue depending on the angle.

"I'm Danielle. Ellie for short."

She nodded. "Your companion mentioned that. You've already met Stevonnie, and the tallest Fusion is Opal." -she said, pointing at the other Crystal Gems.

I blinked. "She's a Fusion too?"

She smirked slightly. "It's a theme with us. Let's go talk back at the house."

* * *

 **So, the story will cover this a little bit later, but I wanted to reassure you (or dissapoint you, I suppose): the Cluster itself is not a thing in this universe. The Homeworld Gems didn't get to plant it back then. Their leftover structures are kinda like Hogwarts Castle in that mortals can't find them. Cluster Gems are a hint at what Homeworld planned to do, but they were...rather busy back in their corner of the galaxy. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.**


	8. Chapter 7: All In Favor?

**Hey guys! How're we doing over here? This is a small chapter, as it's only about Steven and Connie's decision to help the team or not. Next chapter we'll see the new characters and old mingle. Oh, small warning: Ellie curses in this chapter.**

* * *

"So you guys are aliens, huh?"

Steven and Connie, now defused, shared a knowing smirk. " _They_ are. Well, technically only Garnet, Pearl and my mom. Amethyst was made here, and Connie and I were born on Earth as well." -Steven explained.

I frowned. "Who's Amethyst again?"

The Fusion called Opal raised two of her hands. "Me. I am also Pearl. We are Opal." -she said, shifting her tone for each...member of the Fusion, I guess.

That was _cool_ , but also kinda disturbing, I won't lie. Like if I overshadowed someone, but we shared control of the body, except the body became a mix of both my host's and mine.

What a mindfuck, if you'll pardon my french.

"You'll have to excuse Pearl, but she's not too eager about strangers. Otherwise, she'd greet you herself." -Steven explained. Opal nodded quietly.

I was still very curious about how this Fusion concept even worked, but Nico proved himself the responsible party pooper again. "We understand. Would you be willing to hear us out, now?" -he asked politely.

Steven looked at Garnet, who nodded slightly. "Sure, go ahead." -he said cheerfully.

Nico drew a fairly deep breath. "As I said before, we are part of an international organization that aims to protect humanity from supernatural threats."

"Right." -said Connie, "The 'Defenders' you mentioned."

The demigod nodded slowly. "Not the most _original_ name, I'll admit, but it gets our point and purpose across. While there are... _other_ groups defending humanity from itself, people like us handle the supernatural side of things; gods, magic, monsters, and the like. I myself am a demigod, son of Hades, greek god of the dead."

"I'm a witch, from Wizarding Britain." -said Ginny.

I guess that just left me. "And I'm a half ghost, half human hybrid." -I said. I left out the part about me being a genderbent clone, considering it added nothing but awkward questions to the conversation.

Steven looked awed. "That is _so cool!_ " -he said simply, yet excitedly.

Connie nodded. "I guess that explains how the Cluster didn't crush you, being half dead already."

I merely smirked. Garnet turned to Nico. "You came here for a reason."

He nodded. "For the past couple of months, a sort of vigilante creature has been attacking individuals with criminal pasts, back in the mainland. It calls itself the Ghost Rider, and it's _powerful_. It's killed people, and needs to be stopped." -he grudgingly admitted.

Opal frowned, but none of them answered for a while. "You're looking for allies." -Garnet said, crossing her arms. It wasn't a question.

To his credit Nico only nodded. "Young heroes, with magical abilities. Or, failing that, experience in dealing with the supernatural." -he said, looking directly at Steven and Connie.

The tallest fusion scowled, and then the weirdest thing happened: Opal's lilac face _cracked_ , like a broken crystal, and then her entire body glowed white, like Stevonnie's before her fusion finished, and separated into two different entities with a loud _pop_.

" _Absolutely not!_ " -said one, tall and lanky. Her features defined, and she was the _definition_ of thin. Her limbs, torso...even her head was narrow. Her skin was a pale, creamy color, and she had baby blue eyes and salmon colored short hair. She was dressed in a sort of ballet-like get-up, blue, yellow, and pink, with a sash around her waist instead of those silly, frilly skirts ballet dancers use.

The other one was pretty much her polar opposite, exceedingly short and quite curvy. Her color palette was all purple, with lavender skin, and purple irises, her hair a mane of barely purple-kissed white. "We can't keep holding him back, Pearl. Steven needs to get out there, stretch 'em wings." -she said, annoyed.

Pearl put her hands on her hips. "You heard this... _demigod_. That creature is powerful! Steven shouldn't be out there fighting something like that."

"He fights Clusters all the time!"

"He's a Crystal Gem. _We_ fight _Gem_ monsters."

"Steven's hella strong. He could _totally_ handle some variety."

Pearl groaned in frustration. " _Amethyst_ , I swear…"

Steven pursed his lips. "Uhh, guys, no need to argue about this. We already decided we're going." -he said.

Amethyst gave him a raised eyebrow, while Pearl seemed to have developed a tic. " _What!?_ "

The guy shrugged. "Yeah, Connie and I. When we were 'Vonnie, we kinda, y'know, talked about it."

The young woman confirmed this with a nod. "I'm school free this semester, since they kinda had to rebuild after...y'know. The Malachite thing. I'd just have to work on telling my parents."

Pearl seemed conflicted. "But...but we don't know _anything_ about this... _Ghost Rider_."

"Oh, he's a real hot mess, that one. Flaming skeleton that he is, and all. Has a _fantastic_ fashion sense, too." -said Ginny, sarcastically.

Steven's eyes shone. " _I wanna fight a flaming skeleton…_ " -he whispered.

Nico crossed his arms. "Pearl does bring up a good point. This would be dangerous, and we want to make that clear. The Rider already defeated us once, even if he did not seem intent on killing us."

Steven pursed his lips, then looked to Garnet. "What do you think?"

The tallest single Gem simply adjusted her visor. "Your call."

It only took a moment for him to nod enthusiastically. "We'll help!" -he said, winking. Connie gave us a small smile, as well, and that, it seemed, was that.


	9. Chapter 8: Sunkissed and Cringeworthy

**To the guest reviewer who asked where Peridot and Lapis are, this is the chapter that clarifies that. Sort of.**

 **Fair warning: I've reached the end of my "written ahead" queue with this story, so the update cycle is gonna stop for a bit, while I finish some more chapters. Don't worry, I love this story; it shouldn't be too long, but it is going to take some time, with all my other ongoing projects still kicking. I'll make sure to make the next few chapters even better to compensate, as we're changing locale _very_ soon.**

 **Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

Ok, so _maybe_ it wasn't. Steven still had to pack their stuff, Connie had a lengthy phone call ahead, and I was starting to bruise _all over_ , so maybe we could all use a couple of hours of downtime. I saw Ginny waving her wand around, magically repairing the damage to the cottage, bit by bit. Even so, there were things that even her spells couldn't fix, and so Pearl took to helping the redhead with clean-up, while I relaxingly laid down on the roof.

"Fancy seeing you here. I'd chastise you for not using sunscreen, but I suppose the dead hardly need to worry about the potential for cancer." -said Nico, forcing me to open my eyes. He was sitting beside me, with his knees against his chest, though how he did that without me noticing, I couldn't tell you. It's not like there were shadows on the freakin' roof.

"Very funny, Prince Deathbreath. Anyway, where else would I be? I'm not exactly the most socially apt of ghosts. Which is saying a lot." -I retorted.

Nico hummed. "So I've noticed. As has a certain redhead. You _like_ Ginny, don't you?"

I blanched and roused at his comment. "What does that even mean?"

He raised an eyebrow. I cleared my throat. "As a person, sure. Not, uh, not romantically. I don't think I swing that way." -I told him, trying to sound convincing.

He scoffed. "You might not blush red like a mortal, but you _do_ blush."

Goddamn. The glowing green blood was too much of a giveaway at the best of times. " _Fine_. So I find her pretty. Hypothetically. That's _not_ liking her, though."

The demigod evaluated my comment for a second. "Ok."

"Ok?"

He nodded. " _Ok_. I won't pry. Gods know I've been where you are before, and if denial's your thing, I won't take it from you. Just, _try_ to keep in mind Ginny's...prior commitment. I haven't met the guy, but I can tell when someone's truly in love." -he said softly.

I pursed my lips. How could I forget? "I _just_ met her. Even if this hypothetical crush were a real thing, I wouldn't hold a candle to her fiancé."

The son of Hades smirked a shit-eating grin. "Hypothetically, of course."

" _Right._ "

"Y'know, Ginny was totally right. Team bonding _is_ fun."

"Get off my roof."

He rose an amused eyebrow. "You _just_ met this roof. It's hardly yours."

I glared at him. "I _will_ hurt you, Di Angelo."

He winked. "Heal up, Ghost Girl. We leave in an hour."

* * *

Half an hour later, I felt healthy enough to move around again. The bruising had turned a pale yellow, and I thanked my lucky stars that the powers that be had decided that ghosts - y'know, the spirits of the dead - could do with a healing factor.

I floated down through the roof, and found the cottage mostly repaired. Ginny was having some lemonade, chatting happily with Connie and Pearl, and Amethyst was making herself a sandwich out of chocolate bars and celery. Weird, but to each their own, I suppose. I didn't even know sentient space rocks could eat. For all _I_ knew, the purple Gem was preparing herself some sort of delicacy.

"Oi, Ellie! C'mere." -said Ginny animatedly.

I glided towards them, trying to keep the smile on my face. She was showing them her engagement ring, and judging by their excited expressions, it was a popular topic of conversation.

"Hey everyone." -I said.

Pearl smiled. "Hello. You are the hybrid, correct?"

"Fifty percent ghost, fifty percent human, one-hundred percent awesomesauce." -I confirmed cheekily.

The Gem blinked. "That sounds...illogical. Though I suppose it _has_ been centuries since I lived amongst humans, for their modern expressions to make any sense to me."

Connie coughed. "The Gems don't get out much...at all. They really only leave Beach City to go visit old ruins, ancient battlefields...keep an eye on things, y'know? That's where the Warp Pad took us."

I raised an eyebrow at the mention of 'ancient battlefields', but Pearl seemed to be delighted by the comment. "Yes! Oh, the memories they bring...I was there for almost every single battle against Homeworld."

"Homeworld?"

Her eyes seemed to brighten. "Oh! I don't know why I assumed you'd know. I guess living in isolation can make you forget. Yes, Homeworld is, well, our homeworld. Where Gemkind comes from, quite a few dozen thousand light years away. You see, the Crystal Gems - that's us, of course - were rebels, thousands of years ago, fighting our own kind for the freedom of Earth and its inhabitants."

Connie piped up. "There's even some former Homeworld Gems on Earth still alive...though I guess they're Crystal Gems now, too."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Traitors to the cause?"

Pearl scoffed lightly. "Hardly. Stragglers from the Invasion, forced to seek shelter with us. With the exception of that brute, Jasper, of course."

Connie winced. "Jasper is...very loyal, and very strong. For all we know, Homeworld no longer exists, yet it seems she can't fathom the idea. She forced Lapis Lazuli - one of our newer teammates - to fuse with her, last month. They formed a _very_ unstable Malachite, which we were forced to put down. Lapis hasn't regenerated yet, but Garnet tells us that's totally normal, considering the trauma she went through. Peridot, the other formerly Homeworld Gem, is working on repairing the damage Malachite caused." -she explained quietly.

Pearl scowled in distaste. "As I said. Jasper is a brute. _Honestly_ , to force fusion like that...it's a truly heinous offense. She acted like a true Homeworld Gem. Rose would've considered that a war crime."

"Y'know, I didn't go to school, but I bet that war's not in any history books." -I noted.

Ginny scowled. "Magical conflicts rarely are." -she said, frowning quietly.

Pearl nodded. "Homeworld wanted Earth so they could extract resources for their own war of conquest, something that would've eradicated all life on this planet. Rose Quartz, the leader of the rebellion, loved your ancestors, and decided she could not bear the thought of losing such precious lifeforms. She led us through hundreds of battles, and we were eventually victorious." -she explained dreamily.

"Holy crap, what?" -I asked. The Chitauri were one thing, seemingly idiotic alien apes that they were, but a full fledged Star Wars situation? Fought on _Earth_? That was seriously cool...though also kinda frightening. I loved the planet - that it could so callously and easily be 'stripped for parts' by an alien empire was a sobering thought.

Connie chimed in. "Rose Quartz was Steven's mom, by the way. She fell in love with a human, Greg Universe, and they decided to have him. He's a hybrid, like you; half human, half Gem." -she said, pointing behind us, towards a painting of a _beautiful_ woman with _huge_ curly pink hair and a white dress, which had somehow either been miraculously spared from the explosion, or expertly repaired by Ginny.

"You said _was_ , is she…?" -I asked, before I could catch myself.

Pearl looked downcast. "I'm afraid so. Rose and Steven could not exist at the same time, and she...chose to sacrifice herself."

"I'm very sorry for your loss."

The Gem nodded politely. "Rose...lives on in Steven, and, of course, in Stevonnie. Her kindness, her bravery, and of course, her prowess in battle. Steven's a natural, and paired with Connie...well, they're something else, entirely." -she said proudly. "I...I'm sorry I wished to forbid him from helping you. I _know_ he'll do a good job, but...I lost Rose. I'm not prepared to lose Steven." -she admitted, blushing a baby blue, similar to her eyes..

Connie put a hand above the Gem's. "None of us are. I promise, I'll take good care of him."

Pearl smiled thankfully. Ginny cleared her throat. "So, you two are are an item, then?"

Connie nodded, blushing. "Yeah. Going on four years since I worked up the courage to ask him out."

I chuckled. "Geez, you must've been babies back then."

Ginny swatted my arm. "Oh, come off it, Ellie. _I_ think it's adorable. Childhood sweethearts? You don't see that much these days."

Connie laughed self-consciously. "Ellie is right, though, we _were_ pretty young. We just kinda... _connected_ , y'know?" -she said, fondly. "How old were you when you met your fiancé?"

The redhead smirked. "Eleven, actually. Harry's sort of an _unwilling_ rockstar in the wizarding world. I grew up hearing my mum prattle on and on about him, and lo and behold, the legend himself walks up to us one day at King's Cross, all knobbly knees, messy black hair, and massive, baggy clothes, asking if we could help him get on the train to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft as Wizardry."

I couldn't really picture the guy, but I listened intently, trying to imagine the situation as I ignored the illogical pang of jealousy I felt. "I've had it bad for him ever since. It was an unhealthy thing, at first, I'll admit, more enticed by the legend than the person, but that changed quickly enough, as we both grew up. By the time I was fifteen, we started dating, and though the war rather put a damper on our relationship, when it resumed, I knew I wanted to be with the prat forever."

Pearl had a wistful look on. "Oh, Rose loved that about humanity. Such short lives, and yet they manage to make them worth more than any Gem's."

Connie looked at me. "What about you, Ellie? Anyone special?"

The three looked at me expectantly. I cleared my throat. "No, nothing like that. A couple of crushes, here and there, but I've mostly just been busy ghost-fighting." -I awkwardly said.

Ginny had a dangerous twinkle in her eyes. "Any _recent_ ones?"

Before I had to answer that, the door with the star at the back of the shack opened and revealed Garnet, who was walking beside Steven.

"Hey guys! We're good to go." -the hybrid said, showing us an old and frayed cheeseburger shaped backpack as evidence.

I rose rather quickly. "Right! Let's get to it, then." -I said with a forced smile.

Ginny shot me a knowing look, then got up as well. "Thank you for your hospitality. Let's do it again sometime after we take down our flaming friend, shall we?"

The fusion nodded. "Be safe. Call, if you need us." -she said seriously.

Pearl and Amethyst gave us hugs, and Connie walked up to the new team, massive pink sword sheathed in an elaborate scabbard kept over her shoulder. The only regular human in the room had changed into a cool battle outfit, dark blue with an orange training belt and sandals.

We exited the house, and saw that Nico was walking towards us, coming from the shore. Steven then surprised us by whistling loudly. A roar answered his call, and a _massive_ pink lion, easily twice as large as a regular one, appeared out of nowhere. The half Gem hybrid jumped on the creature's back, and offered a hand to Connie, who secured the giant blade she wielded to her back and jumped up to sit behind him.

"Where are we going?" -Steven asked.

I shared a raised eyebrow with Nico. "Amity Park, Oregon." -I answered.

The lion perked its ears up, and its eyes glowed. It uttered a mighty roar, and a wave of pink energy erupted from its maw, forming a bidimensional disc that I immediately knew was a portal.

Steven beckoned for us to follow. "This portal is short range, so it should be safe for you to just jump through it before us."

Nico, Ginny, and I looked at each other. "I'll go first." -I volunteered, having quite the extensive experience with strange, swirling tears in space-time.

They nodded, so I floated upwards, performed a loop de loop, and took the plunge.

* * *

 **So, no one's really called out a concern that I had, which is Danielle kinda falling for Ginny in a flash. I wanted to convey some real world experiences I've had in _really_ liking someone, way too fast, which I'm sure some of my readers have experienced. It's quite the frustrating rush, sometimes, and I wanted Ellie to go through that. Worse still, Ginny clearly knows something's going on. At least she has a snarky demigod on her side.**

 **If you haven't noticed, this story follows a pattern set, with some obvious differences, by a certain other superhero team - read, the Avengers - in its recruitment schedule. We're missing one particular teammate, but it's gonna be a while until this person is a thing within the story. It's gonna be pretty cool, I think.**

 **Anyway, that's it for this chapter. Please be patient, I'll get to work on the next few chapters for this story stat. We still have a couple plot twists and big action set pieces to go through, as well as more team bonding and character development. Stay tuned, and until next time!**


	10. Chapter 9: Welcoming Committee

**Sorry for the wait! Double chapter tonight to make up for it. We're getting closer to the climax, but before we get there, let's warm up a bit. While Danielle was away, Amity got in trouble...**

* * *

It was raining hard in the outskirts of Amity Park, which struck me as odd. The supernatural aura that permeated the city usually kept weather systems light, or outright away. The magic pink lion's portal spit us out at the exact point we took Ginny's portkey, too, which was a _little_ unsettling.

"Welcome to Amity." -I said, as the team assembled. They looked formidable, I'll admit - a demigod, a witch, a swordswoman, and a half-alien hybrid, all looking to me for direction.

Before I could say anything, though, I heard screams. We all turned towards the city proper, which was somewhat...ablaze. Plumes of smoke rose through the rain, and I could hear shouting and small explosions.

My eyes widened. "What the hell?"

Nico grimaced. "Looks like your absence hit the city hard."

"We have to help!" -said Steven, summoning his shield.

I rose into the air, unwilling to wait. "Ellie, stop! We need a plan!" -shouted Ginny, but I didn't acknowledge her, instead blasting off towards the city I'd sworn to protect.

Amity Park was a war zone, one that Danny would've unfortunately recognized. Roaming the streets were _dozens_ of skeletal ghosts, green in color. I knew about them - the army of Pariah Dark, the Ghost King. It was all wrong, though. He was supposed to be sealed in his Keep, to be eternally guarded by the Fright Knight. The undead warriors should've kept to Pariah's domain indefinitely.

Then it hit me: Danny was supposedly battling through the Zone, and had been for a while. Who knew how much destruction he and the Rider had wrought?

It was hardly the time to reflect. Two cowering citizens were straight in the path of a group of skeletons, and I had a very nice shot.

My eyes blazed with fury as I raised my hand and blasted away. The ghosts all but melted into puddles of ectoplasmic goo from the heat enhanced ghost ray. I landed beside the two people.

"Dani Phantom! You came back!" -one of them, a young black girl, shouted in glee.

I smiled. "That I did, citizen. Head out of the city that way, it's ghost-free." -I pointed behind us.

The two of them shook their heads. "We're going for one of the Fenton ecto-gun caches, a block from here. The fighting is thickest downtown, and they need all the help they can get. Good luck!" -the girl said, as they ran away. I smirked fondly. I may not have had the time of my life in this city, but I did love it and its quirky people.

I shot upwards again, headed downtown. I came across a few pockets of skeleton warriors, which I promptly blasted to pieces. The two civvies were right; the battle was raging in front of City Hall, and not for a minor reason: there were _thousands_ of skeletons here, which Valerie was trying desperately to hold back, flying around on her sled. A sizable line of civillians had dug themselves in around the building, helping the Red Huntress with copious amounts of suppresive fire, led by Mr. and Mrs. Fenton. Even a couple of my fellow ghosts had joined in the defense, likely unwilling to stand aside and let the Ghost King's army prevail. Ember sent wave after powerful wave of music from her guitar towards the horde, Skulker bombarded them from the skies, and Wulf jumped in and out of their formation, tearing them to pieces.

The _real_ kicker was the Ghost King himself. Pariah Dark, scourge of the Ghost Zone, duking it out with the Fright Knight, and, unfortunately for me, _Plasmius_. Pariah did not have his crown or ring on, thankfully, which meant he was _much_ less powerful than he had been when my brother had fought him. Deciding the two powerful specters were doing a decent job of holding him back, I flew towards City Hall.

Joyful cries of 'Dani Phantom!' greeted me. Maddie Fenton ran to me as I landed. The Fenton matriarch had a few more wrinkles and gray hairs than last I'd seen her, but she was still very spry and fiercely smart. "Ellie! Thank goodness you're alright...Valerie only told us you were gone, and then this mess started…"

I felt a little bad, knowing I'd left the purpose of my departure on the outskirts of town, but my duty to Amity took precedence. I smiled. "No worries, Mrs. F. I'm back, and it's time to turn this tide." -I reassured her.

I floated, so the people could see me clearly. I spotted a mech-suited Jazz, waving at me, which bolstered my confidence. "People of Amity Park! You've beaten the Ghost King's army with _one_ Phantom before...let's give it an encore performance!"

They shouted fiercely as I flew to the front line, planted my feet next to a surprised Ember, and summoned the energy in my core, releasing it through my mouth in a devastating attack Danny had appropriately named a 'ghostly wail'.

The battlefield seemed silent next to my cry, a banshee's roar that tore through dozens of ghost warriors at once, leaving nothing behind but ectoplasmic dust. Their comrades kept coming, uttering pitiful war cries, so I kept shouting as long as my breath lasted. When I stopped, I breathed in deeply, feeling the strain in my core slowly fade as my energy replenished. I had opened well - now it was time for a good, old-fashioned ass-kicking.

Letting ghostly flame permeate my form, I flew to the middle of their charge, forming one of my signature ectoplasmic balls. I slammed it into the ground, watching in satisfaction as dozens of skeletons disintegrated at once. I became a twister of punches, kicks, and dodges, systematically taking down every enemy that dared come close. Whenever things got hairy, I shot my palms out, twisting in place as I blasted everything around me with ecto-rays. Those skeletons that got to touch me immediately regretted it, as my burning aura quickly melted them to ectoplasmic ash. I even got creative with my shields, charging them with heat and flaring them outward to decimate the surrounding foes.

The skeleton army had a vast numerical advantage, though, and it showed. They started to land hits on me; my left side got nicked by a lucky sword swipe, and a thrown hatchet buried itself shallowly on my shoulder. I turned intangible and it fell, but the damage was done. I formed a dome over myself to allow my injuries to heal, but I started to struggle in keeping it intact against the multiple simultaneous strikes.

As my shield failed, a dozen rockets fell around me, destroying the skeletons closest to me. Skulker landed at my side with a heavy _thud_ , bringing out a pair of wicked green blades from his forearm.

"About time you arrived, brat. The humans wouldn't have lasted much longer." -he growled.

I held my shoulder as I felt the wound close up. "Aww, Skulker, you _do_ care."

He scoffed. " _Hardly_. If we ran out of humans, we'd have to fight by _ourselves_." -he clarified, cleaving a bold skeleton in two.

"What happened here? I swear, I'm gone for a day, and the apocalypse begins." -I asked him, blasting a few mooks away.

Skulker looked at me like I was crazy, even as he grabbed a soldier by the head and crushed its skull. "You've been gone for half a week, whelp."

I blinked. "Oh."

"Where in the Ghost Zone did _you_ run off to?" -he asked, alluding to the weird and often unpredictable way time flowed inside the parallel dimension.

"Nowhere, actually. I made a few new _mostly_ human friends. I guess time flies when you're having fun fighting alien monsters on magical islands."

Now it was _his_ turn to be confused. "Is _that_ why Phantom is fighting alone? I thought you'd finally abandoned his pelt."

I chuckled, ducking under a sword swing and punching a pelvis to dust. "That's _you_ , Skulker, not me."

He growled. "Quiet, brat, or you'll take his place."

"Please. We all know you couldn't leave your infatuation with Danny Phantom behind, Skulker, not even for Ellie." -said Ember, landing beside us. She riffed on her guitar and a fist-shaped energy projectile flattened a sizable mass of enemies.

I snorted, throwing a fiery ecto-ball at a group of foes, which promptly exploded, sending flaming pieces of skeleton flying. "So, how's Danny doing?"

"Not well. He and that _thing_ he's fighting have wrecked half the Ghost Zone already. He didn't look great the last time I saw him." -said Ember.

I scowled. "I have to help him…"

"Not before you beat ol' Pariah, first." -she shot back.

Skulker nodded grumpily. "You've taken enough heat off of us. Go, destroy the Ghost King, before you run out of steam."

I hesitated, but they were right. Plasmius and the Fright Knight were powerful, but not quite enough to defeat the Ghost King. They needed help. "Alright. Keep the humans safe, please."

Ember rolled her eyes. " _Move it,_ dipstick. They'll be fine."

I nodded, taking off again. I saw the thinned out horde of skeletons begin their charge anew, my ghostly companions keeping their word and standing firm against the tide. This needed to stop, and the only way to do it was taking out the source.


	11. Chapter 10: Long Live The King

**Some heavier violence in this chapter, so do be warned. Nothing too graphic, though. Enjoy!**

* * *

Pariah Dark was, quite frankly, mopping the floor with Plasmius and the Knight. The only reason they hadn't yet been turned to ectoplasmic goo was that they were quick, and the King was not at peak power. Even so, I saw Plasmius desperately try to hold a shield over his head, being pummeled by Pariah's fists, while the Fright Knight shot his weird crystalline purple orbs at his liege lord.

"GHOST KING!" -I shouted, flying in at my max speed. The ghost in question barely had enough time to turn before I delivered the mother of all punches to his nose, causing him to stagger and howl in pain. Not wanting to waste the chance, I followed up with a two-handed, concentrated ghost ray, straight to his midsection. The King fell to the ground, roaring.

Plasmius landed beside me, looking worse than I'd ever seen him. "Danielle." -he said wearily.

"You've seen better days, Plasmius." -I said sarcastically.

"Well, _ha_. Still, death rather suits me, no?" -he shot back.

"Definitely makes you less annoying."

The Fright Knight, not interested in conversation, dove down on the King's prone form, driving his magical blade into Pariah's forehead.

It _should've_ incapacitated him, plagued his psyche with never-ending nightmares. It didn't.

"You _dare_ use the badge of your office against your liege lord? I have tolerated _enough_ of your treason, Spirit of Halloween!" -bellowed Pariah, grabbing the Fright Knight with a single, massive hand. I only looked away as I heard the crumpling of metal.

"We may not survive this one, Danielle." -Plasmius gulped.

Now I shot him a sarcastic look. "Well, _ha_. I'd say 'worry about yourself', but you're dead already."

Plasmius did _not_ appreciate being reminded of his human half's death, but he did not comment, instead grimly summoning the pink energy to his palms.

A glowing green sword landed in front of us with a clatter. Pariah loomed ahead of us. "Of _course_. The hybrid opposes me again. You are no true ghost, child. Half alive, half undead...you belong nowhere. Not in this world, and certainly not on _my_ realm! Only _I_ am fit to rule. Only _I_ am the Ghost King!" -he boasted.

I just scoffed. " _Wow_ , you're full of yourself."

The King charged, and I flew at him, charging an ecto-ball with ghostly flame. Before we crashed, I became intangible, passing through his form, and leaving the unstable orb behind. It exploded, which made him roar. Plasmius shot at his ugly, chalky mug. I sent a dozen ecto-discs his way, peppering his back with smaller explosions. When he finally gathered his wits enough to turn towards me, I opened my mouth, and gave him my best ghostly wail.

The haunting melody caused him to scream in pain, kneeling. It was an awful attack to suffer, the ectoplasmically charged sound waves destabilizing a ghost's corporeal structure, something akin to a human's cells spontaneously bursting.

I kept it up as long as I could, but it was too draining. Soon enough, I stopped, trying desperately to breathe in.

He didn't let me. The Ghost King's huge hand shot out and slapped me out of the air, a colossal impact that put the gem monster's to shame. I screamed in pain as I crashed through a nearby office building.

" _ENOUGH!_ Worthless waste of ectoplasm! I am your _KING!_ I will _not_ stand for your disrespect _any longer!_ " -he growled, sticking his hand inside the hole I made, grabbing me - and a whole bunch of debris - and throwing me to the ground. I cried out, feeling something break inside me. The Ghost King brought his boot down, but I managed to phase out of danger for a second. Bleeding and bruised, I still burst from the ground and put all my strength behind a 1-2 combo to his one good eye, busting it. Of course, my victory came at a cost - the King headbutted me into the ground. Once more, I shouted in pain. I knew I would turn back to human soon, my ghost core nearly depleted. My bodysuit was in tatters, and I was bleeding glowing green blood everywhere. I was pretty sure I had at least a dozen broken bones.

I grunted with effort, trying to rise, but his foot found me, kicking me a good block away and into a car, which my body broke nearly in half. Then, he pointed a hand at me, and I saw it become wreathed in red energy.

This was it. Idiot Ellie, killed for trying to measure up to her genetic source material. I briefly wondered if my ghost half would remain in existence, like Plasmius', before he shot. I awaited the searing beam with as much dignity as I could muster.

It never came.

A fast, agile figure, much taller than me, landed in front of me, a familiar pink shield standing between me and certain death. Pariah's monstrous ecto-beam slammed into the shield, but it did not yield. The energy flared out around the edges of it, like light crashing against a prism, but we were unharmed.

"Stevonnie?" -I squeaked out, as rings of white light enveloped my form, turning me back to human. It made me feel even worse, but seeing the fusion wink at me with a confident expression filled me with hope.

The beam died down, and the fusion jumped into action. Stevonnie was impossibly fast and agile, the sum of two very different yet equally capable forms, plus a little extra magic. They evaded a second beam completely, then jumped a good thirty feet into the air, bringing their huge sword down on the Ghost King's eye, finishing the job I'd begun. Pariah Dark wailed in agony as Stevonnie pulled out their magic sword, leaping behind him.

I tried to rise, but I was too wounded. I focused on gathering enough energy to turn back into ghost form, so that my healing factor could get me back into the fight. Meanwhile, Stevonnie seemed to be having the time of their life, jumping in and out of danger, bringing the Ghost King to his knees by way of a thousand cuts.

I sat up against the wreckage, pressing my hand to a grievous cut on my side, probably the one from before that had been reopened. I felt a hand press over my own, turning to find Ginny looking at me with concern. I'd have blushed, but the blood loss wouldn't allow it.

"You look _really_ different as a human, love." -she said, her voice tight.

I smirked weakly. "You should see the other guy."

Ginny looked over at the rather one-sided fight. "Looks like 'Vonnie's got him handled." -she said, as she opened one of her leather pouches and pointed her wand inside. " _Accio dittany!_ "

A tiny bottle flew to her hand, which she promptly opened and began to pour over my worst injuries, drop by drop. It _burned_ , but I won't deny her magical treatment did the trick, as the flesh started to seal, smoking slightly. "I'm rubbish at field medicine, hence the dittany extract. I'm handy with broken bones, though. Point them out for me?"

I had half a mind to just gesture at my whole body, but I simply pointed at my ribcage instead. She nodded, and aimed her wand. " _Episkey!_ "

My ribs shifted slightly, fusing back together in a second. I felt a lot better, _and_ my core had enough energy again. "Thanks, Ginny. I'll take it from here." -I said, as the familiar warmth pooled at my midriff and spread all over my body in a blinding flash.

She blinked stars away, nodding. "Do try not to get that badly hurt again. And next time, _stay with your team_ , you bloody fool." -she said, her tone a mix of concern, amusement, and annoyance.

I blushed, rising into the air. "Sorry about that." -I muttered.

She shrugged. "S'alright. I reckon we were all surprised by, uh, _him_." -she said, aggressively pointing her wand towards the Ghost King, who was making his way to us, trying to ignore the tall fusion stabbing at his back.

" _Phantom!_ I will end you, insolent runt!" -he bellowed.

Ginny sneered. "Cheery bloke. Shall we end _him_?"

I winked. "We shall."

Green fire wreathed my hands, which I shot in a steady stream at his face. He cried out in pain, trying blindly to hit me. I was still stiff and sore, so I didn't bother, merely becoming intangible and avoiding everything. Ginny teleported to my side, and 'Vonnie landed beside her. "Where's Nico?" -I asked them.

"Busy! Let's keep the big guy similarly occupied." -Ginny answered, pointing her wand skyward and shooting a firework.

I nodded as Pariah grunted, trying to rise. "Alright. He might be blind, but he can sense me, so I'll distract him. 'Vonnie, keep slashing, look for weak points. Ginny, blast away."

They acknowledged me, and moved. Cracking my neck, I went to work, throwing a few ecto-disks at the risen King. He shot his horrendously powerful beam at my general direction, but I managed to dodge it. Stevonnie threw their shield at his face with surprising force, causing him to turn towards them, blasting away. I barked out a warning, but they had it under control, summoning a pink sphere around themselves. The crimson beam crashed against it harmlessly.

" _Bombarda Maxima!_ " -shouted Ginny, creating an enormous explosion at his already hurt back. The Ghost King stumbled, so I swooped in and delivered a hell of an uppercut.

'Vonnie jumped up and used my back as a platform, leaping further up into the air, and crashing down, shield first, on the Ghost King's skull. Pariah Dark fell with a grunt and a shower of broken concrete.

Ginny waved her wand and heavy steel chains wrapped themselves around the King, then anchoring themselves on the street.

The three (four? I still didn't understand fusion) of us stood in front of our fallen foe, battle stances at the ready. I could feel my adrenaline fading, the toll of the fight and my many injuries weighing on me. "Is he down?" -'Vonnie asked me, unsure of how ghosts were defeated.

"We should probably make sure."

Ginny looked at me, uncertain. "How?"

"Well, the last time he got pushed into a sarcophagus and sealed for eternity."

The redhead raised an eyebrow. " _That_ worked out well."

"Yup. Any ideas?"

She chuckled. "Keep him down, is what Nico said. Aside from that, no, not really. I'm used to rather _small_ enemies, in comparison."

I frowned. "What _is_ his plan?"

"You should ask him." -she shrugged. The Ghost King stirred, noticing his entrapment and bellowing in rage. Ginny raised her wand, and then slashed it downward, making the chains tighten their hold. "Will those last?" -I asked her.

"They're a fancy little trick my brother Charlie taught me for subduing dragons. The more he struggles, the stronger the chains become. In any case, they're not meant to last." -she explained, nodding behind us. I looked, and paled. The Ghost King's army had come to aid their lord.

Only, that wasn't it at all, considering Nico was marching in front of them, obsidian sword raised high.

"Ok, I won't lie, that's impressive." -I said, awed.

Nico reached us, sparing an annoyed-yet-relieved glare at me. The demigod regarded Pariah coolly. "Pariah Dark, correct?"

The Ghost King was still blind, but he seemed to sense something about Nico, because he instinctively tried to back away. "Who _are_ you, human? What is this power you wield?"

I felt a little pity for him, already knowing what was going to happen. Nico narrowed his eyes. "Not human. Demigod. Son of Hades, god of the dead. Prince of the Underworld...and King of all ghosts."

A shiver passed through me as he spoke, and not the pleasant kind. The ghost half in me was scared of this teenager, and with good reason. I briefly wondered if Ginny's fiancé would feel similar, with his alleged mastery over Death.

Pariah seemed to shrink at his boasting. "It...it can't _be_ …" -he said, fumbling for words.

Nico shrugged. "I don't actually know much about you. It's not my place to judge. But you hurt my friends, and so you _will_ be judged. I hope you find justice in the Underworld, Pariah Dark, for I release your soul from this form." -he half stated, half prayed, pointing the wicked tip of his sword towards the prone ghost.

The emerald army marched forth as Pariah wailed in agony. The massive ghost seemed to become intangible, but the glowing green puddle that was forming beneath him told a _very_ different story. With the soul being separated from the body, the ectoplasm that formed the substance of the ghost's body was falling apart. It freaked me out, knowing this was _way_ too similar to my own near-disintegration.

No one seemed to notice my discomfort, entranced with the otherworldly display as they were, a small lake of highly energetic ectoplasm with a progressively smaller person at its center, surrounded by rapidly decaying skeletons. The banishment lasted but a minute, and in the end, only Pariah's after-lifeblood remained as evidence of his existence - well, that, and the damage he'd caused.

Nico waved his sword around, then sheathed it. I felt slightly less threatened with it put away, which I guess meant I was at least partially affected by the divine weapon. I sat down, feeling my adrenaline vanish, a latent sting of pain in my abdomen making itself apparent. A flash of light at my right caused me to turn, dissolving into Steven and Connie, each putting away their respective weapon.

"Are you ok?" -Steven asked me.

"Umm, fine, I think." -I replied. It was a lie, of course. Superhuman healing doing its thing or not, I _had_ taken a brutal beating. Without the effect of adrenaline, it was only a matter of time before I crashed.

Connie walked over to me. "I'm sorry, but you don't _look_ fine...I think you should lie down."

Nico joined her as I wearily complied. I gave him a half-hearted smirk. "Came to gloat?"

He stared down at his hands with a neutral face, fingering his skull ring. "You nearly died. I may not be that great at reading your weird aura, but I _know_ what actual death looks like, and you were right about to-" -he said quickly, nervous, then composed himself.

Nico sighed. "I don't care for glory. I care about _you_ , and your brother, and the team. You left us behind. I didn't stop you. You almost _died_. You're still not out of the woods, either."

I frowned, clutching my abdomen as Steven whistled for his pink lion to come. "You _barely_ know me. _None_ of you know who - or what - I really am, or what I've done."

He gave me an unimpressed look. "The same holds true in reverse. Wouldn't you save _us_ , if you had the chance?"

Damn. Got me there. "I-I would."

The huge lion portaled in, and Steven pet it before he reached into its flowing mane, which glowed white as he did. Steven pulled out a jar filled with clear liquid, and offered it to me. "Here. Drink this."

I looked at him strangely, but...well, Nico was right. I trusted each and every one of them - perhaps stupidly - implicitly. I took a swig of what tasted like slightly salted water. Sparkles began to glow from me, a faint pink. I immediately started feeling better, less in pain, more relaxed. "What _is_ this?"

Steven smirked. "Pearl calls it a 'lacrimal essence' or something, but they're really just my mom's healing tears." -he explained, then laughed awkwardly at my horrified expression. "It's...well it's exactly what it sounds like, but I promise you Gem tears are not the same as human tears. _Especially_ not mom's."

Drinking tears from a long dead alien ranked pretty high on my list of weird stuff I've done, so I tried not to think about it very much. My body was completely healed, I could feel it. "Thank you, Steven."

He nodded. "No problem. You should _probably_ rest though. You look dead on your feet. Pun _totally_ intended."

I snorted. "Right. I guess our little tour will have to wait."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Rest easy, Danielle. Your brother will need you at your best."

The demigod extended his hands over my face, and sleep took me.


	12. Chapter 11: To Fuse Or Not To Fuse

I awoke to the sound of giggling.

"Oh, dang. Sorry I woke you." -said a familiar voice, a mix of two others. I was in Danny's old room at FentonWorks, specifically tucked into his bed. Stevonnie was sitting at the foot of it, which really served to accentuate her inhuman height.

 _Their_ height? I was too drowsy to try and figure it out.

"No worries." -I said groggily. "Were you two giggling just now? Did I say something embarrassing in my sleep?" -I asked, mortified. I sat up quickly, which made me realize I was in human form, since I didn't just start floating.

Stevonnie shrugged. "Oh, no, just some... _inner_ dialogue. Real funny, but you should've been there."

"Right. The fusion thing." -I muttered.

They laughed good-naturedly. "Never been called a 'thing' before."

"Sorry. I'm still getting used to the whole fusion concept." -I said, embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it. So are we, and _we've_ been doing it since we were twelveteen - er, twelve _and_ thirteen." -they said.

My curiosity got the better of me. "How did it happen?"

The fusion blushed. "It was...a total accident, actually. Steven and Connie, they had a crush on each other. The Gems were trying to figure out if Steven could even fuse because he's half human. The kids were talking on the beach about the fusion dance, and then they _actually_ started dancing. Before we- er, _they_ knew it, they had become me."

I raised an eyebrow at their slip of the tongue. It was different, when Stevonnie spoke, than when their components did. The differing tones of their voices betrayed them. "So, how does it work?"

Stevonnie hummed. "Fusion?"

"Duh."

They smirked. "S'not that complicated. On paper, at least. When Gems decide to become one, both in mind and body, their bodies turn into light, and they merge into a single entity. To do so, they must be on the same page, the same mindset. Even then, there's usually a fusion dance to ensure their synchronization. Of course, as with most magical things, there's more to fusion than that. Connie is just a regular human, so she obviously can't just turn into light. And yet, I exist."

"Yeah, I meant to ask you about that. Nico told us that only people with some connection to magic could find Beach City. If Connie didn't have that, then how did she end up there?"

Connie laughed through the Gem. "My father works security, but not in the way most people would imagine. He's the bodyguard of the UN ambassador stationed in the city."

I frowned. "There's an ambassador for a town of less than a hundred people?"

"Does Amity Park lack one? There are ambassadors for most major magical dwellings, actually. I'm sure your friends know about them. Beach City _is_ pretty small, but the Crystal Gems have a rather large presence in the magical sphere. We tend to make a _lot_ of noise, chasing corrupted Gems. Normal humans usually get freaked out really easily, so the UN provides...damage control. Anyway, Connie's dad handles magic stuff really well, so he and the family got sent to Beach City, Connie's mom started working at the local hospital, and the rest is my own little love story." -Stevonnie explained cheerfully.

I hummed. "So, is that it, then? Is a romantic, 'only you and I' sort of element the secret to your fusion?"

The fusion thought for a second. "Maybe, maybe not. I like to think it is. Makes me feel better about myself, y'know? But Steven's never tried to fuse with other humans - not that Connie would get jealous or anything - so we don't really know."

I pursed my lips. "Do you think...I mean, I know we barely just met but...do you think _we_ could fuse?" -I asked hopefully.

If Stevonnie found the question surprising, she didn't really show it. "Hmm. Maybe. Fusion can be dangerous, if you're not prepared, or if you're not doing it for the right reasons. You might think Steven and Connie fuse to fight, but that's not quite true. I _am_ great, but they're excellent fighters on their own. I'm simply a fusion of love, like Garnet."

"Garnet is a fusion?" -I asked, bewildered.

Stevonnie winked playfully. "She _did_ say it's a theme with us. You must've missed her two gemstones."

I shook my head. "I never would've put two and two together, honestly. She just looks like a magenta-skinned woman with a sick afro."

"That's another thing. She clearly looks humanoid, right? So do I, obviously...aside from my size, that is. That's because our components have a deep and loving bond with each other. On the other hand, a fusion that is primarily summoned to fight, like Opal, will always have...extra stuff." -they explained.

"Right. The arms."

Stevonnie nodded. "Pearl and Amethyst _do_ love each other, but it's more of a sibling bond. Their personalities are kind of on opposite sides of the spectrum, so when they fuse, they almost cancel each other out. Add to that the fact that Opal really only forms when there's a tough fight, and that's why she is as you saw her. Balanced and powerful, but quiet and prone to infusion. And then, the more Gems form a fusion, the less stable it becomes..."

I gasped. "Oh, _snap_. I thought fusion was only a two Gem thing."

They giggled. "Even though _I'm_ technically a one-quarter Gem thing?"

"Well, us hybrids are usually exceptions." -I said from experience.

"Fair point, but no. Fusions are, as far as I know, unlimited in regards to how many Gems can participate in one. The most I've seen is four - her name's Alexandrite - but the record is actually five. You've seen that one yourself."

I rose an eyebrow. "What? When?"

"The Crystal Temple, silly. It does depict an eight-armed giant woman, after all."

I hit my head. How could I be so dense? "Wow. My brain's just not firing today."

"You _did_ just recover from a terrible beating, Ellie. Don't sweat it. In any case, those kinds of fusions are _massively_ powerful, huge, and highly unstable. Take Alexandrite, for example: the fusion of Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl is fifty feet tall, has three pairs of arms, and a second mouth along her jawline."

I stared at Stevonnie in awe. _Fifty feet_...that was huge. I could probably fit comfortably on Alexandrite's palms, with space to spare. "I kinda wanna see her now."

Stevonnie pursed their lips. "Let's hope you never have to. Alexandrite only forms for absolute emergencies. The last time she did, Malachite happened, and a college campus got trampled."

Ouch. "Malachite...that's Jasper and Lapis Lazuli's forced fusion, right?"

Stevonnie winced. "Pearl did say that...look, Ellie, it's...complicated. Like I said, fusion can go _very_ wrong. Malachite is the perfect example of that. Pearl likes to pin all the blame on the Homeworld loyalist, but the truth is, Lapis _wanted_ to fuse with Jasper. Their relationship has never been healthy, and Malachite reflects that, as a mad, monstrous creature that enjoys flaunting her power in the most destructive way possible. If I'm not saying yes to trying fusion with you, it's because I'm worried we could make someone like her." -they admitted.

My stomach dropped. "Oh. Yeah, I get that." -I said, mildly embarrassed. "Thanks, anyway."

Stevonnie scowled. "Sorry, Ellie. Tell you what, though: this Ghost Rider guy prove too much for us, we'll give Stevonnellie a shot, alright?"

I smiled, feeling a little better. "You got it!"

I then rose from my bed, going ghost with a brilliant flash. Stevonnie stood up as well, about a head short of twice my height. "Let's get to it, then."

* * *

The Fenton family was still at City Hall, it seemed, as the only person at the house that wasn't linked to the Defenders was Valerie Gray. The Red Huntress and the rest of the team - plus a young, disheveled looking dude in a brown trenchcoat I didn't recognize - were down at the lab, getting their gear ready.

"Brilliant timing, you two. We are just about ready to depart this earthly realm." -said Ginny, checking the straps on her leather armor.

I rose an eyebrow. "Looks like it. Who's your friend?"

Nico sighed. "Our very own loremaster has decided to join the potentially suicidal mission."

I scoffed. " _Loremaster?_ "

The demigod nodded. "Or so he prefers to be called. _Mason_ , stop nerding out or so help me, we're leaving you here and locking the doors behind us!" -he shouted, annoyed.

The young man in question stopped his excited conversation with Valerie, who looked at me amusedly. I just shrugged.

"Hey! Yeah, sorry about that. Danny had brought some pieces of ecto-tech to the lab before, but nothing _quite_ as advanced as Ms. Gray's…" -he said, leaping towards us and trailing off dreamily. "Anyway, I'm Mason Pines! S.H.I.E.L.D. consultant and the Defender's resident loremaster. Pleased to meet you! Call me Dipper." -he said excitedly, vigorously shaking my hand.

I blinked a couple times, overwhelmed by the guy's excited motormouth. "I'm, uh, Danielle. Ellie's fine, though."

"Yes! Danny's talked quite a lot about you." -he then paused, suddenly weary. "I'm...sorry we have to meet this way. I'm sure he's fine. I know I don't need to tell you this, but he's made of tougher stuff than most." -he tried to reassure me.

"Let's hope so. Sorry for asking, but what's a _loremaster_?"

Dipper smirked. "It means I know a _lot_ about supernatural phenomena. I was hired by SHIELD along with your brother to advise them on how to counter cryptids, ghosts, demons, and other assorted paranormal things. Doctor Strange is often away on Sorcerer Supreme business, and thus can't fulfill a larger role with this team. That's where I come in: I compile every scrap of information on whatever threat we're currently trying to counter. I also oversee our armory." -he said, hefting some kind of cross between a futuristic assault rifle and a fireman's hose.

"Is that a _proton pack_?" -asked Stevonnie, excited.

Dipper coughed. "In essence, yes, though it's not like what you may remember from _Ghostbusters_. It's an ion-blaster. It counters the negative polarity all ghosts naturally have. I figure it'll come in handy in there." -he said, pointing behind him.

Valerie shrugged. "It's no ecto-gun, but it'll do."

I nodded. "Right. So, how do we beat the Ghost Rider?"

Dipper smirked mischievously. "We don't."

Nico frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"The Ghost Rider has been around since the days of the Old Testament, Nico. You can't kill, banish, or permanently harm him. I believe he's one of the original fallen angels, which would make him effectively immortal. _However_...I've spent the better part of a month researching him, and the Rider _does_ have several weaknesses we could exploit."

The demigod rolled his eyes. "Get on with it, Mason."

"Right. So, powerful though he may be, the Rider's a demon. That means he's inherently vulnerable to sanctified weapons. I've brought some holy water." -he said, pulling out a small spray bottle from a pouch inside his coat. "Be sure to coat your weapons with it. Magical ice can also be used to keep his Hellfire at bay, but it won't be enough to beat him. Then there are his netheranium chains - completely immune to earthly magic, so our new alien friend might have an advantage there." He listed off, then adopted a stern expression. "Above all else, remember: the guy is a flaming skeleton. Don't expect your punches and stabs to hurt him much."

"Ok...so, imagine we whittle him down. What's our end goal, here? Do we slap some supernatural cuffs on him or something?" -I asked.

He looked at me. "Excellent question! How tough would you say these things are?" -he asked me, holding up an odd-looking Fenton Thermos. It had several runes and inscriptions etched into it that I didn't recognize, and it glowed a menacing red instead of green.

"Very. Enough to hold someone of Danny's current power level captive indefinitely." -I said, frigidly recalling Danny's tale of his horrible alternate future self.

"That's what I hoped for. I don't know how Mr. and Mrs. Fenton invented this, but it's quality tech. I added some runes and basic wards to it, which _should_ be enough to hold the Rider in place until we can manage a safer way to detain him. Doc Strange is working on that."

Nico snorted. "I can't imagine he's happy about that."

I raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

The demigod shrugged. "Working with catholic priests is taxing at the best of times."

"Most of 'em wouldn't believe a demon _actually_ exists and needs to be exorcised until it's using its host to wring their neck. But that's beside the point. We can't exorcise the Rider anyway. His possession is not spontaneous. We have to try and convince him to let Mr. Blaze take control."

Nico scowled. "I'm not so sure he'll listen to us at all...but it's _something_ , and we can't afford to waste any more time."

I nodded, resolutely. "Let's go."

* * *

 **The team is complete! Someone called out that all this fic needed was Gravity Falls. Dipper is all you get, I'm afraid. This is the last major section of this fic, so strap in: we're going into the Ghost Zone.**


	13. Chapter 12: Into The Zone

If you could get past the disturbing feeling of breathing in a liquid, the danger of losing yourself in the infinite void, and the occasional ghost attacking you, the Ghost Zone was a truly beautiful place to visit.

"Holy _shit._ " -said someone behind me. I couldn't tell who.

I turned to find the team, having just stepped through the portal, floating. I smirked. "Welcome to the Ghost Zone."

"Whoa…!" -said Stevonnie, as they began spinning on their own horizontal axis, kinda like a cat falling and trying to right itself. I giggled, summoning a rocky path towards us. As soon as there was solid ground beneath their feet, the fusion landed on it softly, but a little wobbly. The rest followed suit shortly.

Nico raised an eyebrow. "That's...new."

Stevonnie blushed. "Not really. Gems adapt automatically to the environment they're in. I guess my body didn't know what to make of this place."

"Most don't. People who fall in here kinda go mad after a while. If they're lucky, a Shade will find and kill them before they do." -I explained.

Ginny coughed. "And here I was wondering why it was so empty."

Nico frowned, rubbing at his temples. "I can't feel anyone but us in here…" -he said, then snorted. "It's actually kinda nice, not being able to feel all the dying people."

Ginny scrunched up her nose. "You _really_ ought to see a therapist, love."

The demigod rolled his eyes. "I'd rather keep the trauma to myself, thank you."

I shared an amused look with Stevonnie, then tapped my earpiece, a parting gift from Valerie. "This thing on?"

The line crackled with a couple of unearthly sounds, but Valerie's voice came through shortly. " _Yup. Wish I was going with ya, but I'm still needed on this side for clean-up. Still, if you need someone to bail you out, just give the word._ "

I smirked, then turned towards the team. "Right. Let's go, then."

The group nodded, and followed my lead. I floated ahead, looking for signs of a big fight, the rocky road forming itself under me. The Ghost Zone - or someone within it - wanted us to go in a specific direction. I noticed Dipper busily scribbling away at a faded journal, occasionally adding a quick sketch. I slowed down a bit to talk to him - he might've been a little weird, but he'd clearly spent a long time with Danny lately, which is more than I could say for myself.

"Hey." -I said.

He looked up from his work and smiled at me. "Hi Ellie! Don't mind me, just taking a few field notes."

"I saw that. You can ask me anything, by the way. I'm not the most knowledgeable person, but I lived here for quite a while." -I offered.

Dipper seemed surprised. "Oh. I didn't realize. Danny only barely revealed anything about ghost lore to us. He was especially protective of you and your secrets. SHIELD doesn't even know you exist." -he explained, then smirked. "We had to coax the smallest bits and pieces out of him over drinks. I kinda figured out my own conclusions from that."

I laughed, more than a little touched. Danny was secretive, alright, but I really appreciated his being overprotective when it came to me. "Ask away, Mr. Pines."

He shook his head. "Please, I'm barely eighteen. Dipper will do."

"It's an odd nickname." -I noted

The guy took the hair covering his forehead and held it back. It was faint, but I could make out a small constellation formed by small spots on his skin. "Is that…?"

"It _is_. Hell of a birthmark, right?"

"Uh huh."

"Anyway, back to my burning curiosity. This fluid we're breathing in is ectoplasm, correct?"

I nodded. "That's right. Kind of disturbing."

He chuckled. "I've breathed in worse things. And that is _not_ a reference to drugs." -he joked.

The guy _did_ look half-crazy, but I figured it wasn't because of substance abuse. He cleared his throat. "I've studied ectoplasm quite a bit. I know it's mostly a bunch of supernaturally charged electrons. So, how come we're not drowning in the stuff?"

I hummed. "Well, the Ghost Zone is not a vacuum, as you can probably tell, seeing as you aren't popping like a grape. As far as I know, there's an infinite number of portals within it - what our minds perceive as the doors around us." - I said, gesturing at the rather comical amount of seemingly simple purple doors. "Air and a bunch of other stuff gets sucked in when those portals open. I guess it's enough for a few people to breathe...and since ectoplasm is a neutral substance for humans, you can breathe in the mix without worrying about silly things like drowning." -I said, amusedly.

Dipper made a few notes. "I suppose it makes sense. Not many humans get here alive, I'm guessing."

I shrugged. "Like I said, those that do usually don't last very long."

"You sound like you've seen that sort of thing happen." -he noted.

I pursed my lips. "I've seen people die, yes. One here, a woman. I was too late to save her. Ghosts envy the living; it's in their nature. Some of them more than others. It can make them feral, violent, especially the lesser ones. The thing is, even the most basic ghost can fairly easily kill a human."

Dipper nodded solemnly. "Supernatural strength, the ability to shoot ectoplasmically charged rays...not to mention we're kind of fragile. We're lucky your kind is mostly in it for the mischief, not the murder."

I chuckled sadly. "Yes, you are. Doesn't stop even my 'friends' from making a mess of Amity all the time, though."

Dipper smirked. "I can imagine. Well, no, not really. I'm more of an adventurer than a superhero like you."

I rose an eyebrow. "You _do_ kind of have a hipster Indiana Jones vibe about you."

"Hah! Dr. Jones led a far more exciting life than I did, I'm afraid. Aside from this one summer when I was thirteen, it's mostly been about burying myself in books and exploring the paranormal sites around the world. Not much action, to be honest." -he told me.

I hummed. "Then you weren't there to fight the Rider?"

He shook his head. "I mostly play support. It's why Mr. Di Angelo was so... _surprised_ to see me. I'm sorry to say I believed the Rider to be much less of a threat than he actually is. Otherwise, Doctor Strange and I would've joined in." -he said glumly.

"It might not have changed anything." -I pointed out. Not a great thing to think about, since we were about to attempt just that.

He sighed. "And it might've escalated things further. Yes, I know. The Doctor has argued along those lines before, even though he still blames himself for that debacle. For our sake, let's hope I'm right."

* * *

It wasn't long before we came across the first signs of destruction. A burning island, one with a familiar skull-themed mountain in the middle.

"That's Skulker's turf." -I said, a little horrified.

"One of Amity's regulars, right?" -Nico asked.

I nodded. "This is bad. Islands are a sign of power. The more powerful the ghost, the bigger its lair. They're supposed to be indestructible, so long as the ghost still exists."

Ginny hummed nervously. "I reckon no one told the Rider that."

Nico groaned slightly. "Something's wrong. I feel death."

My stomach dropped, and I paled even further. "Where?" -I quietly asked. I felt the team's eyes on me.

He pulled his sword, pointing it beyond Skulker's Island. "That way. It's not _him_. You and Danny feel similar, this is something else...I don't know how to describe the feeling. Small, maybe? Not as in size or age. Like its soul is smaller than usual. It's weird."

I pursed my lips, a little guiltily relieved. "Well, it makes sense. The Far Frozen is that way. Home to Frostbite and his people. They're like ghosts, but...not. They're purely ectoplasmic creatures. They didn't die, they were born here."

Dipper started scribbling madly. Nico rolled his eyes when he noticed, but quickly sobered up, wincing at some hidden pain. "They're dying."

I sighed. "They're warriors, and they're crazy for Danny. I'm sad, but I'm not surprised."

Ginny produced her wand. "What are we standing around for, then? Let's end this fool!"

We all nodded resolutely, and we rushed towards Frostbite's realm. I tried to clear my mind, but it was impossible. Too many _what ifs_ running through it, too many things that could go wrong. This was it, and not just for the past couple of crazy days, either. For the team, this had gone on for weeks, not knowing if their friend was even alive, and still willing to risk their lives for the chance that he might be. For me, it was even worse; the guilt of being so far removed and begrudging of Danny that I wouldn't even have a clue he was working for SHIELD, the sense of duty he'd instilled in me, and the love I bore for him as my brother.

I chose to focus on the latter. That, at least, wasn't complicated. Danny had seen me through my roughest patches. It was about time I paid him back.

* * *

The Far Frozen was half melted. The once blinding beacon amidst the sea of poisonous green and sinister purple was now mottled with gray, the snow having melted down to the rocky foundation of the massive isle.

It would've been kinda funny if I didn't know Frostbite and his people needed the cold to survive.

"Look!" -said Dipper. He didn't need to, though. We could all see it just fine.

Right in the middle of the island, two figures clashed. One, a blazing pillar of fire, the other, a black and white knight clad in cyan armor. The rocky path below us led straight to their battleground, so we were quick to reach them.

Danny and the Ghost Rider were in the middle of a heated duel, medieval-style. My brother had covered himself in magical ice, his only real defense against the Hellfire that had replaced the Rider's flesh, and covered his demonic chains. Danny wielded a long ice sword, the kind Frostbite had taught him to summon, so clear it seemed made of diamond. The Rider wielded his chains in a similar manner, the linking metal coiling on itself to make two vaguely baton-like shapes, one for each hand.

It was pretty clear who was losing.

" _Gods_...he looks awful." -said Nico.

He did. Danny looked haggard at best, his white hair dirty and long, and his bodysuit in tatters. He bled from multiple cuts on his face and limbs. His eyes had lost their green glow, replaced by a frosty blue, and he looked like he hadn't slept for days.

The Rider, for his part, looked no worse for wear, at least compared to the image Strange had shown me. Perhaps his firey corona was smaller. Barely. Like Dipper had said, though, it wasn't about beating him. It was about outsmarting the son of a bitch.

The two fighters hadn't noticed us, mired in their intense duel. "Call it, Phantom." -said Nico, twirling his sword.

I raised an eyebrow, but didn't argue. "Ginny, Dipper, you two are ranged. Keep him off balance, distract him. Stevonnie, you're front and center. You've got alien magic; he won't see you coming. Nico, throw some mooks at him, and bail Stevonnie out, if necessary." -I said, then patted the modified thermos. "I'm getting Danny out of there. When you have the Rider confused enough, I'll swoop in and snatch him up." -I said, then spared a smile. "Good luck."

The team nodded, readying their various weapons. I floated up, then shot towards the two fighters, shooting a powerful ecto-beam at the demonic spirit. The beam made contact, and the creature howled in pain. Danny took advantage of the distraction, and thrust his ice sword into the Rider's chest. Before he could celebrate, I flew in, grabbed him and hurled him away, shielding myself as I'd seen the creature's flame burn brighter.

The Ghost Rider became a nova. Hellfire washed over my brilliant green dome, breaking it and throwing me away.

" _ **INTERLOPER!**_ **You dare stand between me and my crusade!?** " -the creature roared, fire pouring out of his open maw.

I rose, no worse for wear, holding my fists up as I stood between the Rider and a very tired, and very confused Danny. "I don't know what your crusade is about, but it involves hurting my family, so you _bet_ your broiling ass I dare."

The flaming skeleton threw his chains at me, but they were intercepted; Ginny's dragon-proof restraints grabbed and stopped them momentarily. The Rider turned in time to see a rather large bare foot, as Stevonnie leaped in and kicked him square in the chest, sending him sprawling against a rocky wall. The Rider growled in apparent pain, then roared as he saw the team defiantly standing against him.

"You've been busy." -was the first thing Danny said, his voice hoarse and utterly exhausted.

I looked at him. "You're one to talk, bro. Glad to see you're still in one piece."

"Glad to see _you_." -he said, struggling to rise. I placed a hand to his still-bleeding chest, the DP logo nearly ripped in half. I smirked. "Stay down. We've got this."

The Defenders split into their assigned roles; Ginny waved her wand around, launching a volley of red light. The Rider's chains quickly arranged into a shield, which he used to block the hexes. Then he launched them towards the witch, but Stevonnie had her covered, bringing their massive sword down and actually _cutting_ the demonic chains, rendering the severed metal inert.

The Rider howled in pain, as if the chains were part of his body. Then he recalled them, producing fresh ones and using them as whips to attack Stevonnie. The agile fusion dodged them, all while advancing towards him. Nico dove in as well, brandishing his deadly black blade. Dipper and Ginny stayed back, looking for a good angle of fire.

I looked down at Danny. "Frostbite?"

"In a healing tube. As are most of his warriors. I was buying them some time, but you can see how well that went." -he said, wearily dispelling his ice constructs, a dull green glow returning to his irises.

I grimaced. "How are you even alive?"

He chuckled. "The locale, and the fact that, until a few hours ago, he wasn't trying to kill me."

"A few _hours!?_ You've been here for two _weeks!_ "

His humor was gone after that. "What the hell...? Oh _no_." -he said, as he and I realized at once - time flows differently in supernatural places. "I've been fighting for almost two days...what day is it?" -he asked seriously.

"December twenty-second. Why?"

He paled. "The winter solstice is today. Magical energy at its peak. _He_ kept blabbering about it. I thought the bastard had gone insane…said he needed to return on the solstice, before the sun rose."

"What for?"

He scoffed. "I was _kinda_ busy not getting killed. Like I said, he got _really_ violent about two hours ago."

A flying black blur interrupted us, landing beside Danny. "Ow." -said Nico, his chestplate smoking.

I looked back and saw that the battle was steadily deteriorating. Dipper had been forced out of cover, and was running and gunning when the Rider's chains tripped him, sending him sprawling onto the ground. Ginny was desperately trying to keep the semi-sentient metal with translucent shields she kept conjuring up, but she was being steadily pushed back. Stevonnie kept cutting at the Rider's body, but the demon would regenerate as soon as the pink blade passed through his body.

In short, we were losing.

Nico rose, holding a hand to his ribs. "Well, _this_ went to Hades very quickly."

I winced as I saw Dipper fly and crash painfully against a wall, Ginny quickly grabbing him and teleporting to us, leaving Stevonnie to face the Rider alone - which, granted, they were doing a fairly good job of, but even the powerful fusion couldn't fight forever.

"I _did_ tell you to throw some skeletons at it." -I reminded him.

" _You_ try summoning the undead from another dimension." -he complained, but still thrust his hand out, a purple aura covering it. Half a dozen skeletons crawled out of the ground, immediately rushing the Rider. Nico blasted them with shadows, and they became enveloped in that same dark purple energy. Stevonnie saw them coming, and leaped backwards, allowing the skeletons to ambush their flaming facsimile.

Stevonnie landed beside us, a few minor burns on their bodies. "He's getting tired. Not as quick to regenerate." -they said, then glowed for a second, their voices splitting painfully. "Agh...keep it together…" -they ground out, then reformed, looking weary. "We need a burst of damage. Something to put him down long enough that he can't fight the thermos."

I frowned. "I can't do the Wail here...the ambient ectoplasm will make it more powerful, you'll all get caught in the blast."

Nico grunted with effort, struggling to hold his minions together. "Whatever you're gonna do, do it _now_." -he gritted out, as two of the reinforced skeletons were crushed into smoking splinters.

Stevonnie looked at me. "Hand Dipper the thermos." -they said, then turned to Ginny as I gave the injured human the runed container. "Get ready to reel him in."

"What's your plan?" -I asked them.

The fusion knelt and looked me in the eye. "We're giving _her_ a shot. Let's fuse."

* * *

 **Some headcanons, if it interests you:**

 **-Nico can empower his summoned skeletons and risen corpses to last longer and do more damage.**

 **-Gem magic is generally more powerful than Earth magic. The catch is that there are literally less than a dozen Gems left to take advantage of that.**

 **-Stevonnie 'counts' as a full Gem, comparable in power and skill to the late Rose Quartz. Due to being composed by 75% human elements, they can fuse with humans as Steven can.**

 **-Dipper is seventeen years old at the time of this chapter.**

 **-This story takes place a few days before Iron Man 3 (which I am in the process of rewriting).**

 **Until next time!**


	14. Chapter 13: Spectrolite

**Sorry (again...) for the long wait! School messed up my mindscape for a bit. This chapter was mostly done for a couple of weeks, but I wanted to test out a few alternate scenarios. This one still won out, which is a lesson in trusting my first instinct. Next chapter is already done as well, but I'll post it in a couple of days, just to go over it a few more times and make sure it's as good as it can be. That said, enjoy!**

* * *

I'm not quite sure how to explain fusion. I guess I understand now why Stevonnie had such a hard time describing it. It's physically intimate, mindblowing, and entirely foreign, all at once. Stevonnie looked me in the eye, and I felt like I was entering a trance. I thought of how badly I wanted to protect my friends, how I needed to defeat the Rider. How fusing with Stevonnie might let us do it.

The fusion walked sultrily towards me, their hips swaying even as Danny passed out and the Rider finished the remainder of Niko's makeshift troops. My limbs started moving on their own, to some tune I couldn't hear, but could definitely feel. We walked towards each other, following our own unique rhythm. I'm not quite sure what I did for a dance - something awkward, probably - but once my tiny hands were engulfed in theirs, I felt every cell in my body burst with energy, and the world went white.

The light that forms us solidifies quickly, coalescing into a form we can use. We exist, and we have a purpose. Defeat the fire monster. We know we can do it; we can feel it inside us.

* * *

 _We have a name. We are Spectrolite._

 _As the light subsides, we look around. We recognize those around us; the prince, the witch, the adventurer, and the ghost. They are small, less than half our size. They seem surprised to see us._

 _The enemy roars, challenging us. The monster is also small, but we know he is not to be underestimated. It seeks to test us, launching its chains at our body. It is a simple matter, to grab them with two of our hands, one gloved in white, the other in black. We yank the burning metal back, and the monster is pulled towards us, powerless to stop. Our second pair of hands clenches into fists, and we crumple the monster between them. He explodes in rage and pain, sending us stumbling back, though we are hardly hurt. Four hands glow green, and we shoot a combined beam that quickly envelops the monster. The leather that covers his skeleton peels and breaks, but still, he rises._

 _The monster breathes a ball of fire towards us. We become intangible, but it still hits us in our midsection. We double over, groaning in pain. Our voice is three-fold, not quite mixed, much like our outfit. The monster has begun regenerating again._

 _It is time to finish this._

 _Flying faster than she ever has, we close the distance in a moment, grabbing the monster and tossing him into the air. Then we chase after him, overtake him, and punch him back down to the ground._

 _Like in the cartoons they watched as children, the monster leaves a crater in the ground._

 _'That was really violent…' -we can hear one of them think, worried._

 _We growl, trying to shut them out. We charge up a ball of pure ectoplasm, and lob it at the crater, making it explode further._

 _We fly down and grab the monster, whose flame has nearly died down, only a few flickers and sparks remaining._

 _"Stop! The thermos!" -someone says. We turn, and find it is the adventurer. He is holding something in his hands. The device that will capture the monster, if we recall correctly._

 _But we are not done yet._

 _Ignoring the adventurer, we slam the monster back into the ground with enough force to turn a normal human into paste. He hurt her family, her friends. He is not done paying for it. Twice more, we drive the skeleton into the crumbling rock. They are still yelling at us, telling us to stop. We can feel the bones crack between our fingers as we tighten our hold, the monster groaning in agony, uselessly staring at us with burning eyes...so close…_

 _And then we are hurt. We turn around, infuriated. The adventurer is holding us with some kind of energy rope, speared into our lower back. He fiddles with his devices, and the energy hurts us further. Our form begins to unravel, and we panic._

 _Before we truly know what we're doing, one of our hands shoots at the adventurer. His eyes widen in fear, as he's unable to move. Before he is hit, however, the witch appears out of nowhere, and gets between him and the beam._

 _The ecto-blast hits one of her translucent shields, but easily breaks it. The witch takes the rest of the blast to the chest and falls, smoking, to the ground._

 _'No!' -she shouts, and we split apart._

* * *

I was thrown out of the fusion, which burst with a loud _pop_ and a display of dazzling light. I landed hard, but struggled to rise, exhausted from the expended energy. Steven and Connie were prone on the ground beside me, a groaning mess.

My resolve won out, and I floated back up. Immediately, I rushed towards Ginny.

A beaten up Nico got in my way, putting his sword between her and me even as he clutched his ribs. " _Stop_. You've done enough." -he brusquely warned me.

Behind him, I saw Ginny lying on the ground, her dragon leather armor blackened and half-melted. I'm not sure if it was my imagination, but I swore there was a line of blood flowing from the corner of her mouth.

Tears welling up at my eyes, I looked at the demigod, desperately. " _Please_ , you have to believe me, I didn't want to do that!"

He didn't move. "I believe you. You still did it, Danielle."

Dipper walked up to us, though he avoided my eyes. He handed Nico the thermos. "Get him inside?" -he asked quietly.

Nico stared at the device in contempt, but ultimately sheathed his sword and took it, sparing a small, sad glance for me before walking towards the defeated Ghost Rider.

The young man looked at me worriedly. "Are you ok?" -he asked me.

I gave him a disbelieving look. " _Me!?_ I'm not the one currently dying!"

Dipper pursed his lips. "I don't think she is. She's badly hurt, but I wouldn't worry about anything more than cracked ribs and a massive bruise." -he explained.

As if on cue, Ginny coughed back to life. " _Merlin_ , that smarts." -she groaned.

I flew past Dipper, landing at her side. "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry, Ginny." -I said, kneeling.

She looked at me amusedly, eyes half-lidded from pain, nevertheless. "Oh, love...don't fuss. I won't lie, it hurts like a bitch, but I know it was the fusion that did it."

I looked at her strangely. "What do you mean?"

"Sweetheart...Stevonnie and you, you're swell. Your fusion? Not as much. Powerful, sure, but not exactly a people person." -she explained, gingerly touching her burned sternum and hissing in pain.

Steven and Connie ran up to us. "I _knew_ it was a bad idea. We were too focused, too powerful…" -said Connie, hugging herself.

Steven put a comforting hand to her shoulder. "It's ok. It's my fault, I shouldn't have been so eager to have Stevonnie fuse."

Ginny offered a hand to me, which I took. She raised an eyebrow after an uncomfortably long time. "Well? Are you helping me up anytime soon?" -she asked through a pained smile.

I carefully pulled back, wincing as she cried out mid-rise. She stood next to me, a little hunched. Seeing my troubled expression, she shook her head. "Oh, cheer up, love. I've had worse than this in a fair few Quidditch matches."

She was trying to put a brave face on for me, I could tell. "How can I help? How do witches heal themselves?"

Ginny pursed her lips, wincing at some hidden pain. "Potions, spells...an extended stay at St. Mungo's."

"Is that a hospital?"

She nodded. "In London. I'm not sure where the american equivalent can be found, though."

Her footing faltered, and she coughed harshly, spitting saliva mixed with a little blood. I blanched when I saw it. "Ginny, you are _not_ ok. We need to get you medical attention, stat."

Nico walked up to us, frowning at me. "Get us back to Earth. We'll deal with the rest." -he curtly ordered.

Ginny gave him the evil eyes. "Don't you _dare_ cut her out because of an honest mistake, you git."

He narrowed his eyes. "I'm not cutting her out of anything. We asked her for help in finding Danny. He's been found."

Steven and Connie looked at each other, unsure of what to do. My stomach dropped at his words; Ginny searched my face for a reaction, visibly upset even through her pain.

Dipper frowned. "Wait a freakin' minute, Di Angelo. These guys are the only reason we caught the Rider. You're not just going to kick them off the team because of an accident, are you?"

"We were never _on_ the team." -I quietly said.

Ginny looked me in the eyes, but I avoided her gaze, instead staring at Nico's dark irises. "Right? We were never signed on or anything. Just...close allies."

Nico looked pained, but nodded. Danny came up to us, holding the runed thermos. "Hey guys! What did I miss?" -he cheerfully asked, before raising an eyebrow at the scene.

Everyone else looked at me. I sighed. "Nothing. Can you make a portal to New York?"

Danny looked at me strangely, but nodded. "You know I _am_ tired as all hell, but I suppose I should be able to manage _one_ portal."

He put his hand out, and a swirling vortex formed. I picked Ginny up, bridal style, and flew through it, not waiting for anyone else.

* * *

 **That did NOT go well. For anyone involved.**

 **First things first. Spectrolite's fusion theme is what the background music for "Sugar", from Maroon 5 would sound like with a few darker notes mixed in. Their dance...well, I imagine Stevonnie being her alluring self, while Danielle just...tries her best. Think Commander Shepard's terrible dance moves.**

 **So, the big question: why is Spectrolite evil, if she's formed by two (three, four?) good guys? First off, Spectrolite is NOT evil. She is _extremely_ driven by a desire to protect people, from all three (four, if you count Stevonnie as a separate entity, which I do) of her components. However, two of her parts are rather violent - Connie being taught by Pearl, Danielle learning to fight on the fly during her sabbatical. Steven balances this well in Stevonnie, who would never kill a fly, though she would defeat it. In Spectrolite, Steven's influence is much smaller, and the "do what you must to defeat your enemy" becomes an "end justifies the means" mentality. I drew inspiration for Spectrolite from the Hulk; there have been several instances where the Green Giant has gone off the hook and battled the Avengers, even after fighting them for a long time. Spectrolite is her own unique being, and though she is the direct product of several others, that does not necessarily mean she shares all of her traits with her components. Hopefully this explanation is satisfactory, but if not, don't hesitate to shoot me a review or PM with your questions.**

 **As for why I chose Spectrolite as the name of the Gem Fusion, as opposed to Stevonnellie, as teased before, I chose to employ a headcanon. Since Danielle is not fully human, but a hybrid of human and an interdimensional creature made of magically infused energy, she "counts" as a Gem, at least in terms of power level. Since, as I said before, I count Stevonnie as a "Gem" in those same terms, I thought it would be better that their first fusion would have a rare Gem's name. It also sounds cool. And ALSO, Spectrolite has the colors red, blue, purple, and green within it. AND it's known for its iridiscence, which ghosts are obviously known for as well.**

 **Spectrolite does not have much of a unique appearance. She has a toned body, less curvy than Stevonnie's, but not as boyish as Danielle's. Her skin tone is akin to amber. She has two pairs of arms, like Opal's, and two pairs of eyes, the upper pair brown, and the lower pair glowing green. They don't work independently, as Rainbow Quartz' do, instead moving as a single entity, which gets trippy when she looks up or down, as you might imagine. Their outfit is a mix of Dani's and Stevonnie's, not quite their own as it's a fairly unstable fusion.**

 **Whew! Big author's note. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. And _please_ don't hate Nico. He's just been through a lot and would rather _not_ risk losing anyone else. Even if that does mean shutting down a friend.**


	15. Chapter 14: Consequences

**TRIGGER WARNING for mild body horror on this chapter. Nothing too graphic, but definitely cringe-worthy.**

* * *

It was snowing in New York. I smiled a little, since I hadn't seen it in a while.

Danny's portal spit us out in the same alley as the portkey had. I assumed it was their rendezvous point, which made me realize I didn't actually know much about the team.

Best not to think about any _what ifs_ , now.

Ginny grunted in my arms, so I snapped back into reality, flying off towards Strange's manor. A few people gasped when they saw us, but otherwise, didn't bother us. The door of the mansion opened itself, and I flew in.

The Sanctum Sanctorum looked much the same as the last time I'd seen it, the giant globe of Earth dominating the main room. Strange was waiting for us beside it, a sad, knowing expression permeating his features.

"Take her upstairs, please." -he gently asked me, gesturing towards the room with the burned girl.

I floated there, phasing through the door. The girl was still there, but she looked much better; her burns were mostly healed, and her face was no longer the mask of agony I'd seen before. Ginny's face, on the other hand, was worsening by the second, the color draining alarmingly fast.

"We should've asked Steven if he could heal you." -I said, nervous.

Ginny shook her head. "S'not how it works, love. His magic's alien, mine's of Earth. It's probably why Strange was so reluctant to invite him on our little party. I'm sure the old bastard's biting his tongue bloody trying to avoid saying 'I told you so'."

I set her down on another bed. In another time, the concept might've had me excited. Instead, I winced as she snorted painfully. "Y'know, when I was in school, people thought I was an easy shag. Never said it to my face, of course, but they hinted at it well enough. I _was_ very flirty, openly affectionate, that kind of thing. Truth is, though, no one's seen me in the nude. Not even Potter, though not for my lack of wanting. He's a shy git, my love."

"You're telling me this... _why_?" -I nervously asked.

She smirked. "Just a heads-up. I'm afraid you'll be the first, and it _won't_ exactly be sexy. Help peel me out of this armor, please."

I blinked, turning lime green. Ginny laughed between coughs, a stark reminder of the actual situation. "No need to blush, love. This'll hardly be arousing."

She weakly fumbled for the leather straps, undoing the ones she could reach. I helped her out with the rest. The dragon leather at the site of the blast was cracked and a little warped, but, once I removed the cuirass, I saw the real damage.

"Bit ironic, isn't it? Dragon skin is aces at blocking physical and magical blows, but...heat? Not great." -she breathed out, gritting her teeth.

I paled; under the magical, hardened leather, Ginny wore a sort of fitted tunic, deep crimson and trimmed with what looked like actual gold. It was absolutely _ruined_ around the impact site though, and actually _fused_ with her charred skin in the middle.

Ginny hissed with pain. " _That'll_ scar for sure. Be a dear and bring me my wand."

I did as she asked. It was weird, holding the seemingly harmless stick of wood. It freaked me out a little how it lightly thrummed with life, so I quickly handed it to her.

"I'm going to be doing some _hopefully_ precise cutting. This is where the nudity comes in, I'm afraid." -she said, then pointed her wand near her wound and whispered: " _Diffindo_."

The fabric quickly separated, as if a pair of scissors had run across it. She cut all around the grievous burn, then asked me for help in shrugging out of the tunic. In another time, I might've appreciated her newly exposed chest and milky skin, but my libido might as well have died in the Ghost Zone - I just felt worry and fear. Ginny grabbed a loose piece of leather from her outfit and put it in her mouth.

"I've got to cut the fused bits out so I can heal the tissue. I'm about to scream a ton, love, so... _try_ not to panic, yeah?" -she said giving me a somewhat confident smirk.

 _My gosh_ , was I not prepared for what followed.

It was, to put it mildly, horrifying. I'd been seriously injured before. Blood was not something I was used to fearing, but what Ginny did? Pulling at her burned skin and cutting off the fused pieces? The reality of what Spectrolite had done hit me like a truck when she started screaming, bleeding, and thrashing around. I had to use my considerable strength to physically restrain her, to prevent her from causing further damage to herself.

Needless to say, I promised to myself never to fuse with Stevonnie again. While Spectrolite had clearly been effective, they'd also lacked any measure of control. I simply could not afford to put people, loved ones or otherwise, in such danger ever again.

By the time she finished her makeshift operation, Ginny's chest was a bleeding mess. Waving her wand, she conjured up a basin and filled it with water and a sponge. "Bring me my belt, please?"

I did, and she gingerly opened it, summoning the bottle of dittany extract she'd used on me before. She poured the remainder of it on the basin, stirred it with the butt of her wand, and gestured for me to take it.

"Back during the war, we didn't have access to much in the way of healing supplies. We learned how to manage. Made it last. Dittany extract's terribly rare, and quite expensive. Worse, any prolonged exposure to air tends to kill its healing effects. Diluting it will make it slower to act, but it'll last forever on that basin." -she said, as she lied back down.

I grabbed the sponge and started cleaning her chest. "You know your stuff. You actually sound like a veteran."

She snorted through small hisses of pain. "We were little more than barmy children being rebellious nuisances while _real_ soldiers actually fought and died saving people. Worst we got was a thorough beating and the odd _Cruciatus_ curse."

Seeing with some relief that the tissue was slowly regenerating, I allowed myself to wonder. "What's that one do?"

A haunted look further marred her features. "Dark magic. A torture tool, to be precise. Fires up all your pain receptors at max."

I gulped. "Whew, ok. _Kind_ of glad I'm not a witch right now."

"Like I said, _this_ isn't all that bad in the grand scale of things."

I looked away, as angry red skin began forming under my dutiful sponge.

We fell into a soothing silence, though it wasn't long until my frayed nerves noticed Ginny looking at me intensely. "You know Nico's not our leader, right love?" -she asked me.

I stared at her sourly. "Isn't he? It's not Danny, and it definitely isn't Dipper."

"Not me, either, with my less than stellar record in fighting. But...Nico doesn't speak for us."

She was right, I suppose. It was Strange who led the Defenders, at least on paper. "Still. Me leaving is...for the best."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, _sod off._ _Why_? This was an accident, plain and simple."

I shook my head. "Haven't you figured it out, Ginny? I'm _awful_ at being part of a team. I'll fly off by myself and leave all of you behind. I'm crap at leading, too. _Obviously_."

Ginny frowned, but the dam of my self-doubt had burst. "Honestly, now that Danny's back, why would you ever _want_ me to stay? He's a _hero_. He has experience he can fall back on, he's reliable. He's _good_. Me? I'm a goddamn liability. I don't know how to fight properly. I won't follow my own plans. _I couldn't even beat the bad guy without almost killing you!"_

I tossed the sponge into the basin, hot tears streaking down my cheeks. I backed away, and Ginny tried to grab my arm, but her weakened state forbid her from doing so.

What was I even _doing_? Playing at being a heroine, like I'd been for ages. I wasn't cut out for this, and I knew it. I wanted to believe I could be a part of something greater, with the Defenders, more than just the crappy sequel to Danny Phantom.

Evidently, I had failed.

Before Ginny could do much more than cover herself with a conjured up piece of cloth, I flew away, phasing through the ceiling, willing the cold winter air to take me away.

* * *

 **So, if you've paid attention, you might've noticed that Danielle's issues with self-doubt (which have plagued her pretty much since 'birth') have not gone away. I'd go so far as to say I _can't_ see them ever disappearing, which I believe is natural for someone who discovers she's a 'defective' clone. Throughout the story, I believe I've portrayed her as somewhat reckless, defensive, and prone to embarrassment. No one might be expecting something of her, but she still feels like she's got something to prove - especially when her genetic source is such a beloved hero. This chapter is just the time bomb blowing up. Don't worry, she'll get better.**

 **With this chapter we start the last sort of act of this story, which will take place pretty much entirely in New York. Guess what that means? The Avengers are FINALLY making their entrance! Since one of my last reviewers pointed out that this story has had way too little Danny (and I admit it has), I'm pleased to announce he's playing a larger part in this work, starting with the next chapter.**

 **Until next time!**

 **P.D.: I completely made up that dittany thing. I just figured that, since it's used in drops applied inches over the skin, it must be expensive, and react to prolonged exposure to air. Mainly, it served to show that even if Dani's crushing hard on Ginny, this situation just isn't arousing. What would be an opportunity (she's practically rubbing at Ginny's breasts) for _something_ else to happen in other stories, just can't happen here.**


	16. Chapter 15: Keeping Up With The Halfas

I flew aimlessly, barely avoiding the tall skyscrapers of New York. Trying to distract myself from the self-destructive thoughts that had overwhelmed my mind, I instead focused on the snow; frozen flakes of the vital fluid stuck to my face as I soared, lasting mere seconds. The last time I'd seen real snow (and not the ghostly variety) I'd been barely a year old, wandering around the Himalayas.

I thought I had found myself, out there. Now, I wasn't so sure. I hadn't thought of myself as a failure, but recent events had proven me wrong.

"Y'know, the last time you flew away this fast, you were about to hand me over to Plasmius." -I heard Danny say behind me.

I stopped dead in my airborne tracks, finding I'd ended up above a fancy looking building that seemed vaguely familiar. Danny Phantom floated behind me, still disheveled, but crossing his arms and smirking at me confidently.

"Christ, you really _do_ look awful." -I breathed out.

He raised an eyebrow, amused. "Likewise, little sis."

Danny was admittedly healing, but he still looked haggard. I took a moment to look him over, and made a sound of surprise. "You changed your jumpsuit?"

He nodded. It was a little more modern, form-fitting without being too explicit. Padding in key areas made him seem slightly larger, and a hell of a lot more like a career superhero. Weird, since he technically wasn't, anymore.

"How'd you do it?"

He gestured downwards. "I had a little help. I can introduce you, if you'd like."

I finally recognized the building as Avengers Tower, thanks to the brightly lit logo of the team. How I'd missed that before was beyond me.

"Oh. Is it a S.H.I.E.L.D. thing?"

He winced. "The Avengers aren't exactly fond of the agency right now. A few things have popped up that don't really add up. No, Stark's just a little... _obsessed_ with making superheroes look cooler."

I hummed. "Sounds nice. I've kind of outgrown this outfit." -I muttered, looking down at my own jumpsuit.

Danny gave me a wry smile. "I've noticed. I think you've outgrown Amity, too."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

He crossed his arms. "I've kept an eye on you, Dani. Maybe not as closely as I should've, but I _have_ tried to keep you safe. There are people out there... _bad_ people, interested in us. Interested in what we can do. And you've gotten strong."

I glared at him sourly. "Not strong enough, clearly."

Danny shook his head. "If you keep comparing yourself to me, you never will be. We are _not_ the same person, Danielle, and you know this better than anyone."

"I can't help it, Danny! I'm your _clone!_ I'm a _defective_ , _weaker_ version of _you_." -I shouted angrily.

He shot back, frustrated. "You are _you._ You're a bright young woman with her future ahead of her. You haven't become jaded towards being a hero. You're already leading missions for a team you're not even an official part of. If anything, _I_ should be jealous of _you_. But I don't let it get to me, and you wanna know why?"

Danny flew up to me, and held me tightly in his arms. "We're _family_ , Ellie. That is the only thing that matters to me. I don't care _where_ you came from. I care that you're _here_." -he said softly. As if hearing my whining before I uttered it, he continued. " _But_ I understand that it _isn't_ about me, for once. No one but yourself can beat back your issues. I can tell you these things a thousand times; they won't matter if _you_ don't start to believe them."

He let go, making no note of my tear-stained face. I went intangible for a second, and the moisture dropped to the streets below. He was right, of course; I knew it on a logical basis. I just...couldn't seem to accept it - at least, not easily. I didn't have what he had - a fiancée, a stable life, and the tranquility of - mostly - civilian life. But I did have a good career as a superheroine going, and, with the Defenders, the chance to do a much greater amount of good - assuming I hadn't completely destroyed that, of course.

It would take time, but I could see myself doing better someday.

I sniffled a little bit. "Thank you, Danny."

He smiled. "No prob, Dani."

I crossed my arms. "So...what now?"

"Well, you missed quite a lot during your... _triage_ session with Ginny. Strange is nervous, which, since we're talking about the top dog on Earth, magic-wise, just doesn't bode well at all. He sent Nico to his weird Camp to rally the demigods, and the Universe kid and his girlfriend to Liberty Island. He wouldn't say why, though. I think he expects some kind of big attack."

"And you?"

He rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. "That's, uh, actually why I was around here, originally. I'm supposed to warn the Avengers, since I'm apparently 'close' to Stark, whatever that means. Ginny told me you'd gone away, though, so I kept an eye out for you, and now, here we are."

My spirit fell a little bit, knowing his finding me was more coincidental than intentional, but I crushed the feeling before I could really think about it. "Well, you wanted to introduce me, right? Let's do it."

* * *

I'd be the first to admit that I've never been anywhere near up to date with current events. My life is spent saving people, eating, and sleeping. There's usually not much room for catching anything but the local news, nevermind having any kind of social network account.

I'm sorry to say that I was not... _appropriately_ excited to meet Tony Stark, per nearly everyone's opinion, after the fact.

" _JESUS FUCK!_ " -shouted a somewhat short man in his thirties, clutching his oddly glowing chest, as we phased through an impressively thick glass panel, into what appeared to be some kind of super high-tech workshop.

Danny landed and morphed back into human form with a brilliant flash. "Nice try. You're not scared, though." -he said-

The man quickly regained his composure. "Damn it. I really thought I sold that one." -he said, wiping some spittle from his neatly trimmed goatee.

My brother tapped his nose knowingly. "The curse helped, but...you _know_ I can tell."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever Fenton." -he said, putting his hand out in the same way I would to blast someone. Something came up from behind me at a breakneck speed, which made me yelp and instinctively turn intangible, the object harmlessly passing through me and enveloping the man's hand in a metallic casing that made it look robotic. His palm glowed and whined, pointed at me. "Who's the genderbend?"

Danny gave me a look as if to say _can you believe this guy?_ , then introduced us. "Stark, this is my sister, Danielle."

Tony Stark blinked, then burst out cackling. "That is _not_ her name. Is it?"

I crossed my arms. "It is. I'm Dani Phantom. With an 'i'. The female-starred remake."

The billionaire shook his head. "Geez. Didn't break your head with that one, huh?" -he noted, then turned back to Danny. "Not that I don't appreciate the supernatural break-in, but... _why?_ " -he said, vaguely gesturing towards us with his metallic hand.

"Strange wants help, and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s not close enough. Or on his good graces, apparently. He's requesting the Avengers. As many as you can gather."

Tony whistled. "Yeah, see, that's gonna be a problem. We didn't exactly exchange our contact information. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s supposed to arrange our little playdates. Not to mention Thor is, like, a thousand light years away." -he said, then tapped his chin, motor-mouth apparently not done. "I wonder how the ancient norse summoned him? Anyone got a goat we can sacrifice?"

A voice coming from the ceiling spoke up, startling me a little. " _A delivery could be arranged within the hour, Sir._ "

Danny scoffed. "Thanks JARVIS, but we're not _actually_ going to perform a pagan ritual."

"I mean, maybe _you_ won't…" -Stark muttered.

"Focus. Can you reach _anyone?_ " -Danny asked.

Stark did seem to go into a slightly more serious mode, narrowing his eyes. "Rhodes, probably. Maybe Cap? He's on D.C., I think. Banner's on his honeymoon, and the spies are doing spy stuff. Which I assume implies lots of sex and one-liners, if Bond movies are anything to go by."

I blushed slightly, which did not go unnoticed by the Iron Man. "Oh my god, you're _so_ cute. How old are you?"

"Six. And a half." -I answered, deadpan.

 _That_ gave him some pause, but Danny interrupted whatever he was going to say next. "So, heroes? Second Battle of Manhattan incoming?"

"Right. J, alert Rhodey, and send Capsicle an S.O.S. Tell Fury he better shiver his timbers." -he said, then summoned the rest of the armor, a dark red and gold accented ensemble which fully encased him in less than two seconds.

I gotta say this: Tony Stark may have been somewhat...unimpressive, but Iron Man? I could just _feel_ his power. The ghost in me was going all fight-or-flight with him.

" _Say, kid, how good are you at talking to other such young people?_ " -he asked, his voice taking on a slightly menacing tone thanks to the suit's helmet speakers.

I stammered. "Uh, half-way decent?"

He shrugged. " _Close enough. There's a guy, swings all over Midtown, leaving spiderwebs all over like a Wal-Mart in September. Goes by Spider-Man, saved New York from becoming a herpetologist's paradise a couple of months ago. He won't give_ me _the time of day, but maybe he'll listen to you. Tell him there might be some sort of invasion, and that we could use his help._ "

Danny raised an eyebrow. "Damn. We are _really_ starved for firepower, huh?"

Iron Man snorted. " _Pretty much. If you have a better idea, I'm all ears. Beneath the helmet, anyway._ "

"No, he's fine. I'm just worried that half of New York's defenders are gonna be underaged."

Stark shook his head slightly. " _Whoever's in charge of superpower distribution likes 'em young. Anyway, Big Fenton, take me to your leader. Smaller Fenton, go snatch me a spider._ "

* * *

 **As you can see, we're going 0 to 60 on expanding into a wider Marvel Universe. From this point onwards, the chapters will have small subtitles which indicate which character we're following. I'm excited to say, we're starting with Danny immediately!**

 **Until next time!**


	17. Chapter 16: Intervention, Catholic Style

_**Danny**_

" _You look like crap._ "

I turned to look at the red and gold comet behind me, my longer hair getting in my eyes. "What, still?"

" _For sure. Healing factor acting up?_ "

"More like it's on overdrive. I just spent a _long_ time fighting. Wasn't winning for most of it, either." -I admitted. I was _obviously_ not a stranger to pain, but the fight against the Ghost Rider was up there with my worst experiences post-superpowers.

Iron Man gasped, which came out of the helmet as a vaguely Vader-like sneeze. " _Wait, let me guess: you were fighting the Krampus._ "

I chuckled. "Cute, but not all supernatural threats are seasonal. No, it was a demon. Possessed some guy who used to be a stuntman. Kills people by looking at them and burning their soul or something."

Stark groaned. "Oh, come on! You guys get the best enemies. All I seem to fight are doppelgangers and generic people with guns. And _that's_ just not fun when you're invulnerable to small arms fire."

"Yeah, well. Be careful what you wish for, Playboy. This guy? Not my idea of a fun fight."

" _Your clone help?_ "

I frowned. He stopped me before I could even begin to deny it. " _Phantom, she looks exactly like you. She's six years old, and looks like a teenager. I didn't build this suit out of sheer luck, y'know?_ "

"Fair point. Just keep a lid on it. I'm pretty protective of Dani."

" _Kid, I've kept actual state secrets. Like, for countries. Don't worry about it._ "

Knowing me, I'd worry about it anyway, but I merely nodded. We zoomed over the Sanctum Sanctorum, landing on the front porch - Stark with that trademark 'ground punch' pose of his that he couldn't seem to let go of - and the door, as always, opened itself. A crowd began to gather, but Iron Man, for once, didn't stick around for the impromptu autograph session.

"Mr. Stark." -Strange said once we entered, hands behind his back, seemingly appearing out of the shadows.

Tony's faceplate lifted, and so did his eyebrow, the corner of his mouth upturned. "Beard bro."

If Strange was as annoyed as usual by the comment, he didn't show it. "I take it the Avengers are otherwise occupied?"

Stark shrugged. "You get Cap, Rhodey, and me. _Almost_ half the team."

Doc Strange grimaced, shaking his head. "That may not be enough. Come with me."

Tony and I looked at each other, then followed the Sorcerer. Strange led us to a seemingly random door, which opened to a set of heavily worn stone stairs. We went down to the Sanctorum's dungeon, where Strange kept his most dangerous artifacts - and our one prisoner.

The Ghost Rider was already over its encounter with the four armed woman, glaring at us from inside his cage. The demon was prisoner of the so-called Mirror Dimension, one of many such magical layers that magic users like Strange could tap into. While inside, the Rider could not damage anything in the real world, but he could still see and hear us. Normally, we wouldn't have been able to do the reverse, but Strange's presence was powerful enough to allow us to look through the magical barrier between our dimensions.

Beside the magical cage, there was a catholic priest, a balding old man who was looking frightfully at the demonic entity, clutching a silver cross he carried around his neck.

"Gentlemen, this is Father Everett Lantom. He has agreed to support us in this matter however he may" -Doc Strange said.

The older man was sweating profusely, looking between back and forth at the Rider and us. "I-I must admit, I was not exactly prepared for this situation."

Stark scoffed, but Strange placed a calming hand on the Father's shoulder. "Not to worry, Father. Your mere presence is more than enough help."

Father Lantom was hardly convinced, but he nodded anyway. Strange gestured at both of us. "Be ready."

"For what?" -I asked.

"Have you ever tried to interrogate a demon? They're hardly ones for conversation. I intend to speak with Mr. Blaze. I'm afraid the Ghost Rider will not willingly relinquish his host, not while he's on this... _crusade_ he spoke of."

Stark brought his faceplate down, pointing every weapon in his suit at the Rider. " _Got'cha_."

I smirked. "Y'know, for an atheist, you believe this Dan Brown, Angels and Demons stuff pretty easily."

" _I believe what I can see, Casper. And what I can_ see _is a catholic priest cowering at the sight of an actual, real life demon. I'm stubborn, not stupid._ "

"Right." -I said, properly chastised. "Goin' ghost!"

The familiar white rings formed at my waist, changing my form and makeup to that of a ghost. The priest looked like he might faint from the sight of _me_ , too, but he held it together, muttering some kind of prayer and closing his eyes.

Doctor Strange performed a few hand gestures, and the air wavered with magical energy. A couple of thin, glowing ropes appeared on each of his hands, forming into something resembling whips. He then lashed them towards the Rider, the tendrils grabbing onto the entity's body, wrapping around his arms and waist. Strange pulled the Rider towards us, bringing him out of the Mirror Dimension effortlessly. The Ghost Rider snarled, surprised, and struggled to free himself from the magical bonds. I thought he'd escape easily, even with Strange's power, but the Rider seemed...diminished. The flame that wreathed his skull was slowly extinguishing.

"Father? The holy water, if you please." -Strange said, grunting with effort.

Father Lantom snapped out of his terror-induced trance, stammering and grabbing at a small, copper basin at his feet. He then tossed the water at the demon - all of it, which I would say is overdoing, but I'm no expert. The holy water hit the Ghost Rider...and immediately evaporated.

I was _about_ to laugh, when the liquid's effect made itself apparent. The Rider's fire turned to smoke, and that in turn became flesh - organs, muscle, tendons, and skin covering his bones again. Slowly but surely, the Ghost Rider became the stuntman, Johnathon Blaze.

Strange relinquished his hold on the prone man as soon as he stopped smoking. In the Rider's place lay a man in his early thirties, painfully skinny, tired, and weak. His hay-colored hair was a matted mess, and his skin clung to his bones. He struggled to rise - Strange offered him a hand, and I floated over to do the same. I won't lie - I was expecting him to fire up and take us out immediately, but it seemed the holy water had truly bought us all some time in peace.

"Y'know, we could've used this a few hours ago." -I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Please, Daniel. You really think the Father here would've survived an encounter with a free Ghost Rider?"

I pressed my lips together. "Fair point."

Strange blinked, then looked at the man on the floor. "Mr. Blaze. Welcome back to the land of the living. Are you able to speak?"

The guy tried to focus his clear blue eyes on Strange, succeeding after a few moments. " _Yeah_...that's my name…"

Strange nodded. "The holy water will keep the Rider at bay, but not for long. We must talk."

Blaze scoffed weakly. "Yeah...he's _not_ happy with you. I can _feel_ him...the fire's still inside me."

"I fear your possession is not one we can rid you of." -Strange admitted, pitifully.

The possessed man chuckled derisively. "I figured. You said it yourself, you don't have long. Ask away."

"What does the Rider want?"

* * *

 **Yes, this is influenced by my watching Dr. Strange last week. Fantastic film, by the way. Totally recommend it. Also, Father Lantom is from the Daredevil TV show. Daredevil himself is not a thing in this story, though. It'll be a while before I write him.**

 **The only reason Strange can hold down the Rider is the presence of a holy man, and the ward effect of the holy water. The Rider is more than a match for Doctor Strange in pure, raw power, don't be fooled.**


	18. Chapter 17: Apocalypse Now!

**Hey guys and gals! We are back with another chapter! Things are heating up, as Dani meets the fabled Spider-Man, and Danny and co. find out the location of this fic's final battle. Are you ready? I am! Let's go!**

* * *

 _ **Danielle**_

How the _hell_ do you find a half spider, half human person?

You follow the webbing, of course.

Stark wasn't kidding when he talked about how much there was. Long, spindly strands of an off-white cable-like material stuck to buildings left and right, marking a confusing but trackable path through and around Midtown. I would've expected people to take pictures of it, but apparently, it was a daily fixture. Indeed, New York seemed to love Spider-Man; I spotted little spider buttons on people's clothing, t-shirts with what I assumed was a stylized cartoon of his mask, and straight-up brownstone walls covered in pro-Spider-Man graffiti. It may not have been Danny-Phantom-statue-on-city-hall levels of love, but New York was clearly the Spider-Man's turf.

The webs led me to a high-rise a few blocks away from Avengers Tower, a huge, ominous black building with a name prominently and menacingly displayed in a sickly yellow, all-caps font.

"OsCorp?" -I asked no one in particular. I was unfamiliar with it, but clearly, the Spider-Man wasn't. Judging by the amount of webbing, he'd been all over the place. The trail ended at the jagged top of the tower, which I landed at. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary at first glance, but a closer examination showed a maintenance access whose notoriously cheap lock had been easily forced.

I frowned, turning invisible, and followed his tracks in.

The inside of OsCorp was a disturbingly high tech facility, though I found the security a little lacking - only a couple of armed security guards and modern cameras hampering a potential intruder's progress. No problem for me, obviously.

Judging by the machines around me, OsCorp dealt with advanced bioengineering research. I felt a little uncomfortable, as the environment reminded me a little too much of my infancy. I would not be surprised to find out that Vlad and/or DALV Co. had some kind of tie to OsCorp, to be honest.

I floated around unnoticed, floor after floor, trying to resist the urge to mess with the people I hovered by. You have no clue how hard that is, by the way, when you're half mischievous ghost, and spend fifteen minutes finding absolutely _no_ trace of a half-arachnid man in a spandex onesie. I was _just_ about to give up and head back out to the streets, when I heart a _thwip_ sound, and felt a strange _bump_ against my shoulder.

My _invisible_ shoulder.

Before I could turn around, I felt an inordinately strong force tug me backwards, straight into an open utility closet. Oddly textured gloved hands grabbed onto me, covering my mouth and holding my arms tight against my torso.

"Dang it. I was _this_ close to making a joke about Kevin Bacon." -he said, quickly shifting his arm away from my breasts, a little fluster affecting his voice. He sounded somewhat older than me, but decidedly younger than Danny.

I snorted. "Spider-Man."

"Your friendly, neighborhood one, yeah. Have we met before?"

I went visible, then intangible, causing him to lose grip, and the web to fall off of my body. My first look at Spider-Man was a little unimpressive; he was somewhat tall and slim, maybe on the lanky side. He was covered head to toe in a faded blue and red outfit, fashioned entirely from spandex, and designed to evoke a spiderweb theme all over his body. It was clearly homemade, and I could count dozens of minor patch jobs all over his athletic figure. A disturbing amount, if one considered the likely causes for a vigilante's suit getting torn.

I raised an eyebrow, he cocked his head. "Well, you're _definitely_ not Sue Storm. I've fought her and her cronies. Never once did _that_. Also, she's blonde, but not _that_ blonde."

I frowned. "My hair is literally white. And who the heck is Sue Storm?"

Spider-Man shrugged. "Invisible thief, hangs with her family of similarly superpowered goons. You don't catch the news? I fought 'em, like, last month."

I shrugged. "I'm not from around here."

He snapped his fingers. "Explains how you're this lost. Kind of trespassing here, tourist." -he said, sarcastically.

I scoffed. "Takes a trespasser to know a trespasser."

"Right. Gotta work on your lines, but you have a point. So, what brings _you_ to OsCorp?"

I blanked for a couple of seconds. "Uh...same thing as you?"

I could just _hear_ his sarcastic blinks. "You...came here to investigate the theft and tampering of genetic samples of possible alien origin?"

Well, at least he was keen on sharing. I sighed. "No, not at all. I was actually looking for you."

His body language got a little defensive at that. Understandable, given he was technically meant to be arrested on sight, being a known vigilante and all. "Uh huh? What for?"

"Superhero business, as you might imagine. Got sent by one Tony Stark."

Again, his stance shifted, though now it was more annoyance than distrust. "Ugh, _again_? I thought I made it clear: no, I can't join your club. I have _things_ , like a _life_ to handle, besides the whole 'masked vigilante' thing."

I chuckled. "Hey, don't worry. I'm not an Avenger. We just might need your help with something big. Temporary team-up only, dude, I promise."

He crossed his arms. "Right...let's assume I say yes. Just how big is this thing you need my help for?"

"Come with me and find out? I'm not entirely sure myself. I _do_ know there's a whole 'millions of lives at stake' element to it, though." -I asked him.

Spider-Man thought about it for a moment. In the end, he nodded. "Alright, I'll go. Make you a deal, though. Assuming whatever the big bad thing is doesn't kill us, you're helping me investigate OsCorp later, alright?"

"Sure thing. This place gives me the creeps anyway. It's Dani Phantom, by the way. With an 'i'." -I said, holding out my hand.

"Man. Spider-Man." -he said in what I assumed was his 'suave' voice, matching my superhumanly strong grip.

I groaned, rolling my eyes. "Christ. And you say _I_ need to work on my lines."

* * *

 _ **Danny**_

" _I don't get it_."

Strange pinched the bridge of his nose, shutting his eyes in frustration. "This is the Ghost Rider, a demonic entity that hunts down evildoers and dooms their souls to an eternity of pain. He is currently on a rather ironic devil-given quest to stop the End Times. As for the son of Satan, I have no clue as to his identity, but you can find the heavily edited story of the Antichrist on any hotel room. And regarding the cancellation of the Apocalypse, I'm open to ideas."

" _No, no,_ those _parts I get. What I don't understand is how Satan's brother wanted Match Head over there to stop it all by himself_."

"Demons are among the proudest creatures in the multiverse, Mr. Stark. It stands to reason that one as powerful as Mephisto would disregard anyone's power but that which he wields and grants."

"Still, though; how the hell did he expect someone he tricked into a _curse_ to be his champion?" -I asked, crossing my arms, looking at the slumped form of Johnny Blaze, semi-conscious and ignoring our conversation. I'll admit, even in that state, I didn't trust him not to turn on us. Especially now that Father Lantom had retired for a cup of tea and/or a reconsideration of his life choices.

The Sorcerer Supreme shrugged. "For all their cunning, demons are far from great at understanding humans beyond our basest desires. That is why we rule the Earth, while they are stuck in a realm of darkness, pain, and hatred. It is also why Lucifer would have needed a human-borne vessel to live and develop among us."

" _So the Antichrist is already alive and grown-up, then._ "

Strange regaled Stark with a withering look. "Did you expect a _baby_ to bring forth the Apocalypse?"

Stark scoffed. " _The way things are these days, I'm not ruling Doomsday Baby out until proven otherwise._ "

"Focus, guys. How would he do it? 'Bring forth the Apocalypse'." -I asked.

Strange pondered the question for a moment. "Opening a portal to Hell is no simple feat. The ability to traverse dimensions is a rare one, and the beings with the power to actually accomplish it are but a handful in the entire multiverse."

I frowned. "I do it all the time, Strange."

"So do I, but only through the use of my Sling Ring. The power levels required for a portal to the Ghost Zone, one to another location on Earth, and one all the way to Hell are vastly different, however. No one being can generate the amount."

Stark piped up. " _But they can channel it, right? Like Thor and his hammer?_ "

Strange nodded gravely. "There are certain artifacts that would serve that purpose, yes. Like my Ring, they would be imbued or capable of harnessing certain energies. I imagine Lucifer will have gifted his child a 'badge of office', so to speak. Most likely a weapon, with which to defend himself while the Lord of Hell arrives."

Blaze lifted his slumped head. "Kid's...got a trident. Nether...something or other. Can't remember."

Strange's eyes brightened triumphantly. "Netheranium! It cannot be damaged by magic, which would allow it to channel a theoretically endless amount of magical energy. The question is, what would he use as a source?"

Dipper barreled down the stone stairs. "Ley lines, Doc!"

We all turned to look at him, confused. He was still in full gear from the Ghost Zone, burn marks and all. " _The hell is a Ley line, Intern?_ " -asked Stark.

Strange, who'd gone somewhat pale, answered. "People write down historical events in paper. The Earth, Mr. Stark, prefers to do so in magic. Places with powerful significance to humanity are permanently marked, and the ties that connect these points are called Ley lines."

Dipper nodded. "And according to your globe, the intersection at Liberty Island is being tapped into _right_ _now_."

Strange's momentary glee was completely gone. "This is not good. Not good at all."

Tony turned his head towards Dipper. " _Illuminate the atheist._ "

"The statue of Liberty is atop one of the most powerful Ley line intersections on Earth, Mr. Stark. If someone manages to fully control its power..."

"He's making a portal." -Strange declared somberly.

" _Already knew that, Strange._ "

The Doctor shook his head. "I _mean_ he is creating one this very moment."

Blaze - or rather, the Ghost Rider - chose that exact moment to fire up again, the flame in his veins overtaking his willpower, burning through his flesh and cursing him to a demonic existence again. The screams were...rather unpleasant, to say the least.

The hollow-eyed look the Rider gave us, even more so.

We all struck a pose, ready to fight - Dipper's maybe a little more scared than valiant - but the Rider was not interested. He roared, pushing out a wall of hellfire from his body, which Strange hastily shielded us from. Then, the Rider struck out against the stone ceiling above him with his chains, jumping up through the half-melted crater he created. Strange dissipated the glowing amber shield, more resigned than angry at the destruction wrought on his Sanctum.

Stark huffed, powering down his repulsors. " _Again. You assholes get the best bad guys._ "

Strange ignored the billionaire's attempt at levity. "Stark, link up with your Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. Meet us at Liberty Island. Be warned: you may arrive to a fight." -he said. Stark nodded, then followed the Rider's makeshift path out of the Sanctorum, which I rolled my eyes at. Then, the Doctor turned to Dipper and I. "You two, take the Gem warriors you've recruited to Liberty island. Hold the line while I figure out a way to stop all of this." -he said, using his portal making ring and stepping through the spinning vortex.

I looked at Dipper and sighed. "Another day, another world-ending invasion."

He shook his head. "You're telling _me_. Let's go find Steven and Connie. And hope we don't run into Ginny on the way."

"Why?"

Dipper scoffed. "You kidding me? If she figures out we're about to fight without her, the actual, biblical Apocalypse will be the least of our problems."

* * *

 **So, there was some research that went into this. Ley lines are a thing in real life (not magical, obviously, but there are books and stuff about it), and there's an intersection at Liberty island. I figured that the whole context of freedom and unity that Lady Liberty represents would make for an ironic background for a demonic invasion/the Apocalypse. Besides, we've already had an invasion above Avengers Tower. Let's get a little change in scenery.**

 **If you know a bit about Marvel comics, then you already know the identity of our main antagonist. I shan't spoil it for those who don't know, but it should make for an interesting one. I wanted to use the Ghost Rider, but he's no villain material, really. Knowing that Mephisto - the demon that cursed Johhny Blaze into being the Ghost Rider - is linked to Satan (Marduk Kurios, I believe is his actual name in Marvel lore), I went with a little tangent. Don't even think Mephisto is doing anything for the benefit of humanity, though. He's got his own selfish reasons. In any case, there's a major showdown in our near future.**

 **Get ready! There are explosions in the next chapter.**


	19. Chapter 18: A Terrible Day For Atheists

_**Danielle**_

Not everyone can be a superhero. Controversial statement, I know, but there's more to it than a fortuitous, power-giving incident, a strong moral compass, and a penchant for putting yourself in harm's way to protect others.

There's something else, something I can't quite describe. I don't know that _I_ have it, but I know people who do. Danny, for instance, even if he's 'retired'. It's how I know Spider-Man definitely has that _thing_. We never quite _stopped_ on our way back to Avengers Tower, and yet, somehow, Spidey - as the locals called-slash-yelled at him in adoration - stopped two muggings and a bank heist. I didn't even need to assist, merely gawking as he would swing by the bad guys and leave them cocooned tighter than a burrito, easy pickings for New York's finest.

On top of that, the lanky bastard could keep up with me _flying_ via nothing more than his death-and-gravity defying web swings.

We didn't quite end up reaching the Tower. A familiar red and gold human rocket caught up to us on the roof of a somewhat short building, a couple of blocks out. We stopped to greet our eccentric new friend, and Stark landed with a punch and a knee to the ground, flipping the faceplate upwards and nearly blinding us with a thousand-watt grin.

"Underoos! You came!"

Spidey crossed his arms defensively. "One time deal, Mr. Stark. It's still a big N-O on your offer."

The billionaire held up his hands in defeat - still threatening, by the way, when your palms can burn through solid steel. "Hey, I'm just glad you're in on this shindig. Also, I just took your measurements. With a _laser._ I _will_ be making you a Stark-worthy suit."

Spider-Man groaned in defeat, walking away, towards the edge of the roof. I inched closer to Stark, and asked him in a low voice: "What's his deal? Most people would kill for one of your suits, right?"

Tony snorted. "You'd think, but Spandex-Man is big on boring things, like 'secret identities' and 'keeping loved ones safe from harm'. He doesn't know I learned his real name, like, the night we met."

"So...he's suffering because he thinks you're going to find out who he is if he gets any closer to you?"

"Uh huh. He could be wearing a cute little stylized 'A' on his shoulder right now, but _nooo_ , he had to go and be a responsibility-obsessed mini-Cap. Ridiculous. Kinda cruel of me not to tell him. Funny, though."

I shook my head. "Ugh, _billionaires_. What a bunch of Froot Loops."

He raised an eyebrow. "Watch it, Boba. I might own that cereal brand."

I raised an eyebrow. "Who the heck is _Boba_?"

He gasped. "Ok, you're _cute_ , but not knowing who Boba Fett. cloned bounty hunter is? Criminal offense. I even went with a _prequel_ joke, young lady."

I shook my head. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

" _That's usually the case with Tony._ " -said yet _another_ robot man, floating above us, this one dark grey, black, and silver, with red 'eyes' and a significantly thicker profile. He landed beside Tony with a much heavier _thud_.

Stark smirked, putting his armored hand on the doppelgänger's shoulder. "Rhodes! Glad you could make it." -he said, gesturing towards us. "Meet the new models."

'Rhodes' nodded at us, but he didn't lift the faceplate. Guess he was also a stickler for secret IDs. " _Already replacing, us, huh? The name's War Machine._ "

I mean, I could see why he'd chosen that name; the guy had an _actual laser turret_ mounted over at his back, overlooking his right shoulder.

"Dani Phantom."

"Uh, Spider-Man."

Rhodes turned to Iron Man. " _What's the game plan?_ "

Stark shrugged. "Well, Cap managed to wrangle Widow and Hawkeye, they're on their way. No word on tall, norse, and handsome, but there's no surprise there. Strange wanted us to meet at Liberty Island. Said we might be flying - and swinging, I guess - into a party. Not the fun variety, though."

I frowned. "Geez, just how much did I miss? I was barely gone an hour."

"The Antichrist, apparently. Blaze wasn't your guy. He's after the son of Satan, who's supposed to bring about the Apocalypse, just like Sunday school said. That's _today_ , by the way."

Spider-Man shook his head. "Goddamn. And here I thought I'd made the smart choice going agnostic."

Stark smirked. "Man after my own heart."

I groaned. "Let me guess: the _actual_ bad guy is trying to open a portal to Hell for his daddy."

Stark actually pouted. "Well _geez_ , if you're just gonna spoil all the plot twists for yourself…"

As he said this, there came a deep rumble over the horizon, an otherworldly bass that made the windows of the buildings around us vibrate violently. We all turned towards the bay, and saw as the sky above it became a deeply unsettling shade of red.

Spider-Man cleared his throat. "Let's get going, maybe? Lady Liberty ain't gonna save herself."

Stark scowled, lowering his faceplate. " _I have a feeling I'm gonna be_ slightly _less rich after this_."

" _That's assuming the world_ doesn't _end, Tony._ "

"Let's make sure it doesn't." -I said, then took off, the other three right behind me.

* * *

 **Danny**

Liberty Island was on fire.

Well, probably not as bad as you're thinking. There were a few minor flames, like you'd expect from a small, demonically themed scuffle, but the invasion hadn't yet begun. The Ghost Rider was nowhere to be seen, either.

Present, however, was the Son of Satan.

The Antichrist was a teenager, maybe some eighteen years old. He was tall, and somewhat lanky. Topless, too, which revealed a pentagram symbol that had been brutally branded onto his chest. He had straw-colored hair - common in demonically possessed humans, if our two examples were any reference - and maroon irises.

Several security guards were in a standoff with the guy, a few measly stun guns pitted against _Lucifer's magical trident_.

I flew over the valiant guards, landing in the no man's land between them and the bad guy. I held up a hand to the security officers, who promptly backed up a little in relief. I guess they must've been hoping for a superhero to show up.

"So, Lucifer Jr., is it?"

The guy bared his teeth. He looked like a junkie. "Who the fuck are you?"

I raised my eyebrow. "Geez, I go for a quick retirement and no one remembers me. It's Phantom, dude. Danny Phantom."

He scowled. "You an Avenger?"

I shook my head. "Nope. Not that they haven't offered, but...joining them is not on my priorities right now."

"Then what the fuck are you doing here, huh? You wanna be a hero?"

"Dude, I practically _invented_ the modern superhero thing. Are _you_ trying to be a villain?"

He looked down, his bravado diminished. "I...I _have_ to. My Father...if I don't do this, he's promised to destroy the Earth, instead of just...conquering it."

I crossed my arms. "I know a thing or two about those kinds of ultimatums. All it means is, without your help, he can't do shit. Why do you think he's not ruler yet?"

He thought about that, but I could tell he was still set on his father's plan. "What's your name?"

"Daimon."

"Well, Daimon, it's really up to you. This doesn't need to end in a fight. I have friends who can help you. Who know about magic, demons, and how to solve these kinds of problems." -I said, extending a hand towards him.

Daimon gave me a sad look. "That must be nice. Having friends. My whole life, people have avoided me. Like they knew something was wrong with me. But I didn't, y'know? Not until last year, when _this_ thing…appeared." -he said, pointing at the brand on his chest.

"I understand. Believe me, when I first got my powers, I felt like I was completely alone, that no one could understand me. I was lucky. though - I had good friends. Things got better. I'd like things to get better for you, too."

He smiled a little. "I'd...I'd like that."

Internally, I was fairly impressed with my negotiation skills. Unfortunately, stopping the Apocalypse just _couldn't_ be that simple. The brand on Daimon's chest lit up - with actual flames - and he screamed in pain, falling to his knees. His grip on the trident tightened, hidden runes along the shaft blazing with the color of amber.

Daimon spoke, but it wasn't his voice. " _ **No. You will not deny me my world, child. And**_ **you** _ **, wraith, will not oppose me!**_ " -he growled, then pointed the trident towards me, flames erupting from its pointed tips. I hastily put up an ecto-shield, over which the unholy fire washed. I added some ghostly frost to reinforce it, but I knew it wouldn't last.

"Is the island evacuated?" -I asked the guards, grunting with effort.

"Yeah, just us now." -one of them answered fearfully.

"Then get the hell _out_ of here!"

The three of them nodded quickly, then beat it towards the ferry station. The trident's firey stream halted, but Daimon/Satan thrust his hand out again, and shot purple/black bolts of lightning that crashed against my weakened shield, easily breaking through and making rather unfortunate contact with me.

 _Ow_.

My pain receptors flared up, but I powered through it, turning intangible and sinking into the ground. It's always disorienting, swimming through the soil, but I managed to exit a respectable distance away from Daimon. At Lady Liberty's feet, interestingly enough. From there, I could see Daimon waving his trident around, making some ominous glyphs start to appear in the concrete beneath him.

I tapped my ear. "Contact went wrong. The kid's been directly possessed by his dad."

" _Figures. What's the call?_ " -Dipper asked.

"There's a chance that we can get through to Daimon, but...our priority is containment. Whatever happens on this island, stays on this island."

" _Got it. On our waaaaaaaaaaa-_ "

A lion's roar erupted from nowhere, creating a pink, swirling portal from which a similarly pink, giant lion with two people at its back burst.

"-aaaaaaay!" -shouted Dipper, from the lion's back.

I shook my head, then floated down to join them. "Nice entrance."

Stevonnie smirked. "Lion likes the drama."

"So does Satan. He's taken over Daimon and is creating the portal right now."

Dipper snorted, smoothing down his coat. "Subtle, naming his kid like that."

I nodded. "He's literally got a pentagram on his chest. Not subtle _at all_."

"Right. The brand is interesting - I may have an idea, but I'll need time to work on it."

Crimson lightning struck - not falling from the skies, but sprouting from ground level and reaching towards the clouds, which immediately turned pitch black, the blue of the heavens turning blood red. Lion growled.

"Not good." -Stevonnie pursed their lips.

I shook my head. "Defenders, time to earn our names."

* * *

 **There you go! Our main antagonist is an unwilling eighteen year-old. Daimon Hellstrom is a fairly relevant character in Marvel lore. My take on him is a little different than canon, but I think it's good. At least, I hope it is.**

 **Next chapter, the gang gets back together, and the invasion starts!**


	20. Chapter 19: Hot Demon Princess

**Disclaimer: There are some extra violent bits in this one, as well as non-graphical depictions of nudity. That's what happens when literal demons invade, apparently.**

 **In another note, I'm on vacations for the next couple of weeks, so updates will resume in January! Thank you for your continued support!**

* * *

 _ **Danielle**_

Working alone - for the most part - in this business deprives one of the joy of seeing a team come together. There's nothing quite like a superheroic cavalry charge, of demigods - as soon as Nico and company joined us, literally - coming together to defeat a foe or force that they may not be able to defeat on their own.

Iron Man, War Machine and I zoomed towards Liberty Island, with Spider-Man hanging from Rhodey's fuselage via a trusty strand of webbing.

" _Captain Rogers reports they have engaged the target._ " -said JARVIS, audible through the tiny earbuds Iron Man had provided us with, which were both tuned to the Avengers' official frequency.

" _Well, shit. I just lost a bet._ " -said Stark.

" _What did you expect, Stark? You bet against America's darling blond boy_." -said a sultry female voice in my ear.

" _Right. You guys_ were _late the last time, though_."

" _Yeah, and you bitched about it for like a month to Fury, who put in the order for faster Quinjets. So, y'know, get your billionaire ass in gear._ "

Stark grumbled. " _Shut it, Romanoff. You'll scare the kids._ "

The woman snorted. " _Shall I curse in russian?_ "

" _Knock yourself out,_ _Red._ "

" _Я буду стучать себя вне, Старк_ "

Stark chuckled at that. Unfortunately, I spent no time in Russia during my post-Vlad sabbatical, so I had no clue what it meant. It didn't matter much, since we were already within sight of Liberty Island, and let me tell you, things were _rough_ , down there.

There was a high tech plane/helicopter currently bombarding a figure wreathed in purple fire and black lightning. It didn't appear to be doing much, but the portal wasn't open - yet - so I guess the people piloting the plane knew what they were doing. I saw Danny, Dipper and Stevonnie fighting with another figure, this one female.

" _Well, the end of the world hasn't started yet._ " -said Stark.

" _Let's make sure it doesn't start at all. Avengers, assemble!_ " -said yet another man. Judging by the inspiring tone, I figured it was the famous Captain America.

I mean, even if you don't know much about heroes, it's kinda hard not to know about the guy, ok?

The back of the plane opened, and out fell three people. A redheaded woman, dressed in a black catsuit, a sandy haired guy bearing a bow and arrow, and the Sentinel of Liberty himself. The plane/copter began to hover on its own, kinda like an enormous autonomous drone. I left the armored men and Spider-Man to their own devices, and went to join the Defenders.

The woman they were fighting was very... _interestingly_ dressed. As in, she was barely wearing anything at all, having donned an intensely sexual outfit I could see a dominatrix wearing. All black leather and weird, bare patches showing off her mind blowing physique. She was tall and statuesque, with rosy skin and long, flowing red hair. She was also levitating, horned, and throwing fireballs at my friends.

"HEY!" -I shouted, then tackled her in mid-air. We crashed against a tourist booth, pamphlets and glass flying everywhere. She shook her head, but I didn't give her a chance to talk, blasting her with an ecto-ray, mid-chest. The woman flew further. her impractically exposed chest smoking.

"Ellie! You're back!" -said Dipper, his weird sci-fi gun slung over his shoulder.

Danny smirked. "Nice entrance, Sis."

"Thanks. Who's the flaming lady in the gimp suit?"

My brother snorted. "I don't even know. The guy was making a portal, we sort of interrupted it, but the woman managed to make it through. My guess is, she's some kind of lieutenant, because he just spoke in some weird tongue and she started lobbing fireballs at us. Those _hurt_ , by the way."

Dipper rubbed at a singed spot on his coat's left arm. "Yeah, after the Ghost Rider and the literal Antichrist, I'm vetoing any missions involving demons for at _least_ two months."

"Uh, guys, I don't think she's down for the count." -said Stevonnie, standing tall behind us.

The demonic dominatrix rose out of the rubble, her eyes ablaze with anger. "I am Satanna! Daughter of the Lord of Hell! You will all fall before me!"

Danny shook his head. "Geez, these guys and their names."

I raised an eyebrow. "Says the guy called Danny Phantom." _That_ earned me an ironic look.

"I'm just mad that it took Ellie for her to tell us what she's called." said Dipper.

Satanna roared, sending a stream of demon fire towards us. Stevonnie put their shield between her and us, effectively blocking the flame. Danny and I took to the skies, peppering the evil lady with ecto-rays. Satanna halted her stream, taking off to engage us in a dogfight.

Flashes of red and green flew back and forth between us, with a couple of blue ghost ice blasts courtesy of Danny mixed in. I managed to eye Dipper and Stevonnie, back on the ground. They were beckoning at us - Stevonnie had their glowing shield ready, the massive pink sword held back for a strike, and Dipper held a crystalline orb filled with liquid in his hand.

"Danny! Follow my lead!" -I shouted over the blasts.

He nodded, so I took off towards the ground, and my teammates. A quick glance back confirmed that Satanna was taking the bait, trying to blast us in the back, a crazed look on her face. The ground approached fast, but that was hardly a problem for Danny and I. We both went intangible, just as Dipper threw the orb towards the spot we'd dived into. I came up behind Dipper, to hear Satanna's shrieking, her clawed hands grabbing at her now smoking face.

I raised an eyebrow at Dipper, who smirked. "Holy water. Heavily damages demonic flesh on contact" -Dipper said excitedly, grabbing another little orb from his belt and showing it to me. It was about the size of an orange.

" _Why_ didn't we have this against the Ghost Rider?" -I asked him, deadpan.

Dipper pursed his lips. "We tried using it, the first time. Problem is, the Rider _has_ no flesh."

Stevonnie charged towards the weakened she-devil, who nevertheless threw a fireball at them. 'Vonnie simply used their shield to block the attack, then swiped at Satanna with the flat of their blade. The hit sent her flying again, straight into a freshly phased out of the ground Danny. My adoptive brother grabbed her in a bear hug, flew upwards, then threw her to the ground, where she crashed harshly, sending concrete and dirt flying.

Before we could celebrate our combo, however, a pillar of fire reached towards the sky on the Avengers side of the conflict. Danny tensed, looking at us. "Do you guys have this?" -he asked us, pointing his thumb at the heap of she-demon currently shaking her head clear.

I nodded, smiling. "Go, dude. Join the big leagues."

Danny returned the smile, flying off towards the Avengers. I felt a strange mix of pride and sadness, seeing him go. I'd always known Danny was a hero, of course, but seeing him take to it again so seamlessly...I found myself hoping the powers and good looks weren't the only things that my genetics had inherited from Danny.

Satanna struggled to rise from the small crater she created, her dark eyes blazing. She was bleeding - her blood was black, because _of course_ it was - but her injuries seemed to be healing _alarmingly_ quickly.

"You are powerful, that I will admit. More so than my lord initially believed." -she gritted out. "But the hordes of Hell have waited _eons_ to claim this world. We are _legion_ , and we will _not_ rest until humanity is but _ashes_!"

She punched the ground, and a flaming assortment of lines appeared all around her. Dipper gasped. "Oh, crap. Portal!" -he shouted, pointing his weird gun towards the she-demon.

Much like Danny's trans-dimensional vortex, Satanna's portal was small, barely person-sized. From it sprouted a humanoid, and then another three just as quickly.

"Well. Those are _definitely_ succubi." -said Dipper, swallowing in fear.

Whatever succubi were, they looked like naked, horned, and winged women. They had reptilian claws and goat legs, so, thankfully, this little queer half-ghost had no weird battlefield thoughts for once.

Dipper shook his head. "Whatever you do, _don't_ let them kiss you! They can steal your soul that way."

Satanna smirked evilly. "The mortal thinks he knows our ways! Show them first-hand, my servants."

The five of them charged against the three of us. One of the succubi took an experimental swipe at me, which I (stupidly) used my hands to guard against. Her awful claws ripped right through my jumpsuit and skin. I cried out in pain, which the succubus found pleasing, showing me her pointed teeth. She did not, however, like that I immediately headbutted her a dozen feet away from me.

My arms healed quickly, fortunately, but my jumpsuit usually remained damaged until my next transformation. I shook my head, and went to continue beating on my foe. Beside me, I glimpsed Stevonnie making short, bloody work of a succubus with their massive sword, and Dipper struggling to dodge his own foe. I grabbed my she-demon, and threw her to 'Vonnie, who easily chopped her in half. They then threw their shield to the succubus troubling Dipper, disorienting her enough for him to linei up and shoot his proton pack. Apparently, the thing had a regular 'gun' mode, because it blasted several bolts that burned a few holes through the monster's torso.

Stevonnie gracefully jumped between Satanna and her remaining servant, bashing the first with their shield, and stabbing through the latter's abdomen. They then swung their embedded blade, the force of the move throwing away the stabbed she-demon towards Satanna, making them both crash in a heap.

"Holy shit." -I said.

Dipper gulped. "Glad they're on our side, huh?"

"Mm hmm."

Satanna threw off the corpse of her servant, sneering in disgust. Putting her palms to the ground again, she made another portal appear. "We can't let her keep making these portals. The more she makes, the more attuned she'll be to the energies of this Ley line intersection, and the better she'll be able to tap into its power." -Dipper told us, charging his rifle and pointing it towards Satanna. The princess of Hell noticed this, and summoned a swirling vortex of flame around her.

Dipper and I shot a couple of experimental blasts at the fire wall, which did jack shit. "Subtle, the 'do not disturb' sign."

The young cryptozoologist shook his head. "Where the hell is Nico and his demigod army?"

"Not here, that's for sure."

"Hey." -Stevonnie pointed their sword towards the ocean behind us. Sure enough, a flaming bike was making its way to us, leaving a burning trail on the water's surface, because we just didn't have enough biblical references today, apparently. "Company."

"The Rider is clearly making a beeline for Danny and the Avengers. Think he will recognize friend from foe?"

"I don't think the Rider _has_ friends."

"Then we have to make sure the Avengers stay out of his way. _And_ take on whatever Satanna is cooking in there. Besides herself, obviously." -I said.

Stevonnie cocked their head. "Tall order."

Dipper looked at both of us. "I hate to say it, but you guys _might_ have to...y'know."

I cringed at the suggestion. "I...not if it's not necessary. Sorry, Stevonnie."

They nodded. "That's fine. We Gems hold fusion sacred for a reason. Speaking of whom." -they said, turning to Dipper. "If things are about to get as bad as you say they are...I can call in reinforcements."

Dipper looked to me. "I vote yes. Your call, Ellie."

I looked at 'Vonnie, a little weirded out that Dipper so quickly gave me leadership. "Should they come? They might be exposed to the world, y'know."

The fusion shrugged. "Honestly? Besides Pearl, I don't think any of them will care."

I nodded. "Do it, then."

Stevonnie whistled for Lion, who quickly arrived. The fusion reached into the pocket dimension inside the feline's mane, which glowed brightly. 'Vonnie pulled out a white, hexagonal tile, crystalline in nature. "Peridot worked out temporary warp pads for desperate situations like these." They tossed it in the ground, and it grew in size until it was about half as large in diameter as the one they had in their home.

The platform glowed, and a pillar of light fell on it from the sky. A group of _tightly_ packed people appeared - Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl I recognized, but the high tech green one, the five, red short ones, and the thin haunted blue one, those were new.

Garnet offered me a smile. "Told you to call if you were in trouble. Glad you listened."

I nodded, then turned to Dipper. "I don't believe you've met the Crystal Gems."

"Not directly, no. The name's Dipper. It's a pleasure. Wish it were a better time." -he answered tightly.

The fusion shrugged. "Fights are good for bonding. We'll be good friends, by day's end. _If_ we win, that is." -she said, smiling at some hidden joke.

The fire igloo that housed Satanna chose that moment to burst, expanding and consuming the surrounding area. The portal beneath the she-demon had turned into a fissure, a direct link to Hell - and from it, dozens of demons were pouring out. Succubi, I recognized, but the nude monsters had been joined by armored, winged ones with crooked, rusted swords, and flying red bats enveloped in fire.

My eyes glowed green with determination. "Let's take them down!"

Garnet materialized her gauntlets, a move which her fellow Gems mirrored. "We must keep them contained to the island!"

Satanna bared her fangs. "Charge my minions! There is a _feast_ beyond these champions!"

* * *

 **So, there are a few references to past (and future?) events: the Quinjet with Hawkeye, Cap, and Widow was late to the Battle of Manhattan, so Stark has been working on faster Quinjets, which will result in what we see in Avengers 2 and Cap 3.**

 **Earlier in this fic, Garnet offered to help. Now the Crystal Gems are here to (help) save the day!**

 **Spidey clinging to War Machine is directly taken from Civil War.**

 **Also, Widow says (in Google translated russian): "I will knock _your_ self out, Stark."**

 **See ya in January!**


	21. Chapter 20: Moments In Chaos

**This chapter should clue you in to the fact that, soon as this story is done, I'm doing a prequel with Danny at the center. There's a fair amount of backstory set up here. Fair to say, there's been some preliminary contact between the Avengers and Danny. Most of 'em, at least.**

* * *

 _ **Danny**_

Look, I don't regret my retirement.

After the disaster that was taking down Plasmius and the Department of Extranormal Operations - you'd know them as the Guys in White, like I once did - I needed to stop, look back, and reevaluate my purpose, and that of my powers. I'm not a religious man by any stretch of the imagination, so I had to come up with _some_ kind of earthly justification for my having these extremely powerful and dangerous abilities without any kind of supervision but that of my close friends and family.

I _killed_ a man, no matter what Sam and Tucker said. And yeah, maybe I'd saved Sam, and the city, and ended a highly illegal government agency in the process, but that roaring applause, that statue in front of City Hall, with both my real name and my superhero identity...I had failed. I hadn't earned them. Regardless of how many lives I'd saved before, Vlad was gone, even if Plasmius was still around. He was just another reminder of my failure.

So, yeah, I took a sabbatical. A big one. I hadn't planned on it being anything but permanent, choosing instead to leave Danielle to fill in my shoes - which she'd done perfectly, I might add - and live out my days in the big city with my someday-to-be wife. Aliens and secret, international security agencies hadn't factored into that. Neither had demons.

Maybe I _should_ be a religious man. The Bible's epilogue was _kind_ of happening in front of my eyes, after all.

Anyway. The scene looked a little like this, once I left the Defenders to handle Satanna:

There was Hawkeye, some fifty feet away from the action, hiding behind the remains of a ferry's bow - probably carried in by Stark - sniping at Daimon/Satan. Uselessly, since the possessed teenager had a wall of flame around him, protecting him from such lowly attacks.

Captain America, Spider-Man, and Black Widow were all _inside_ the flaming sphere, fighting hand to hand with the Lord of Hell - and doing a good job of it, to be fair.

Iron Man and War Machine were both flying overhead and blasting at the portal forming above Daimon.

I landed next to Hawkeye. "Hawkeye, right? Don't bother with those. Save them for the army of demons about to rain on our asses." -I told him, pointing at his bow.

He sighed. "There's no stopping it, huh?"

I shook my head. "If I know portals - and I do - that one has already achieved stability. All it has to do now is gather enough power."

"And we can't cut off the flow?"

"Nope. Maybe Strange could've, but we're basically too late. Daimon had already laid out the groundwork before I got here. Any hope on getting S.H.I.E.L.D. to help?"

Hawkeye shrugged. "Ask Nat. I'm the clean-up guy. They never tell _me_ anything."

I nodded. "Got it. Stay safe, bird brain."

He scowled. "Only close friends and bitter enemies get to call me names, Casper."

I chuckled, floating upwards. "Heard that one before."

I left him cursing, then flew towards the fiery vortex, shooting it with an ecto-ray. It didn't really do much, which I had imagined would be the case. Shaking my head, I let my cold core wash over me, spectral frost gathering over my form, shaping itself until it resembled armor. I walked towards the fire wall, and thrust my fist against it, as a test. The armor held up, but I could feel the drain of holding it together, so I quickly pushed against the flame, passing through to the other side.

Like I said, Cap, Spider-Man, and Widow were holding up rather well. Daimon seemed to be trying to run them through with the wicked tips of his trident, but the nimble, perfect specimens of humanity - plus the teenaged hero of Queens - were dodging his attacks at every turn. Widow was having a hard time getting close enough to use her weird taser things, but Rogers had managed to land a few solid shield bashes, and Spidey had saved his fellow heroes a few times from being skewered with well aimed web shots.

I held up my hand, and shot Daimon in the chest, which staggered him. "Hate to break up the sparring session."

Cap didn't miss a beat, punching the possessed teen in the face, straight into a jumping Widow's crotch, who closed her legs around his neck, and brought her wrist tasers down on his temples, at max voltage.

I knew first-hand - long story, but my first day as a S.H.I.E.L.D. consultant was _rough_ \- that those were powerful enough to stun _me_ , so it came as no surprise that Daimon fell like a sack of potatoes. The flame around us dissipated, but the portal above us, as I'd predicted, continued growing. Spider-Man wasted no time in snagging the trident and enveloping Daimon in a cocoon of silky strands.

Rogers took a moment to catch his breath, then nodded at me. "Thanks. It was getting a little hectic in there."

Romanoff shrugged and gave me one of her weird half smirks. "We had it handled. Just...not that fast."

"Sure thing, Romanoff." -I said, deadpan. "What's the ETA on S.H.I.E.L.D. support?"

The Black Widow narrowed her eyes. "Thirty."

I pursed my lips. "I wouldn't put that portal's grand opening past five minutes. You sure Captain Eyepatch can't punch it?"

She shook her head, mildly amused. "Fury is breaking every regulation just to get here. We're gonna have to fight it out until then."

Stark and Rhodes landed beside us, and Hawkeye jogged up to complete the circle. "So, this guy's the Antichrist, huh? Doesn't look like much." -the archer asked, nudging the teen's sand-colored hair with his boot.

Romanoff scoffed. "Certainly _feels_ like much. Guy punches hard."

"Not as hard as he could've. He was fighting the possession." -Rogers noted.

"So maybe all he needs is some 'cognitive recalibration'." -Romanoff suggested.

Hawkeye shrugged. "Worked for me."

Rogers turned to Spider-Man. "Will your restraints hold up?"

The younger superhero nodded. "I made them fireproof, so they _should_. Don't know much about demon fire, though."

"Eh, all it does extra is burn at your soul. Unless your webbing is sentient, it should be enough." -I said.

"I definitely _hope_ it isn't sentient."

Iron Man snorted at this, but Captain America simply nodded. "Barton, Romanoff, take him to the Tower. Try to get him 'recalibrated'. I want you back in twenty, regardless of his response."

"If you want to get a priest involved, I know a guy called Lantom. Works out of Hell's Kitchen." -I suggested.

Barton huffed. "I appreciate the irony, at least."

The Quinjet flew overhead, lowering and opening for them and their package. The two spies walked up the ramp, and wished us good luck - with a nod, as cool spies are wont to do. Rogers wasted no time in turning back to us and assigning roles. "Stark, Rhodes, Fenton: I want you on perimeter duty. If even one of these things gets off the island, innocent people could die. Shoot them down, or push them back. Spider-Man, you're with me; let's link up with these Defenders I've heard so much about, and keep the fight centered on us."

We all nodded solemnly, as the portal above us began to crackle, black and red tendrils of lightning arcing around it as the circular tear in space-time opened up. A mass of beings began to drop from it - mostly humanoids, all flaunting some variant of goat's legs and gently floating down thanks to huge, leathery wings at their backs. Most of them wore rusted, once-golden armor, though I could see many demons resembling bats, and even some that looked like naked women.

Stark lowered his visor. " _Time to work for a living_."

Iron Man, Rhodes, and myself took off, blasting at the incoming horde. A mass of micro-missiles, minigun tracers, and my own green ecto-blasts struck the first lines, all but melting those demons unlucky enough to be leading the charge. Even so, it was barely a dent, they were so many. We kept shooting until we reached the portal, then split off to create a perimeter around the island.

What followed was carnage. I lost count of my kills after forty eight. I kicked with enough strength to crush ribcages. I blasted with enough power to burn holes through flesh. I froze demons solid, then shattered them into so many bloody icicles.

It seemed to be working; the demons were answering our challenge, preferring to fight us than spread towards the city. Their pride was too great to ignore us. Fortunately for us, we were enough to keep them occupied. Even though I began to take hits, my bodysuit steadily becoming torn by an endless sea of teeth, claws, swords, and fireballs, I knew I could hold them off.

Satanna seemed to have sensed this, too, because she started pursuing me again.

"Lady! I am _taken_. Stop following me around!"

I shot an ecto-ray at her, but she dodged it, then flew up to me and punched me down to the ground, hard. I managed to go intangible just in time to avoid making a crater, then came up beside a rather large, armored demon, who swung his massive, flaming sword at me. I tried to shield myself by encasing my arm in ghost ice, but a trio of energy blasts pierced the monster's armor, making him go limp before his sword reached me. I turned to see Dipper, his blaster smoking. "Thanks." -I said.

"Duck!" -he shouted.

I did as he asked, and he shot again, this time at a charging Satanna. The princess of Hell resisted the shots, then shot a fireball at Dipper, who barely dove out of the way. I punched her stomach, but she managed to knee me in the crotch. Which hurts a _ton_ , by the way, even if you're half-ghost.

Without even taking the time to gloat, Satanna grabbed me by the neck and threw me away against a wall. A couple of Succubi jumped me while I was down, but I managed to blast them away. I melted into the ground, then came up behind Satanna, but that must've been predictable, because she managed to blow me away with a well-timed fireball. She then leapt up at me, her claws aiming to kill, and I braced for the hit I couldn't get out of the way of.

Luckily, I had a guardian angel in the form of Captain America. Rogers quickly got between her and myself, his indestructible shield taking no heed of the she-demon's wicked claws. Rogers then delivered the mother of all roundhouse kicks, sending her sprawling away.

The Sentinel of Liberty helped me up. "Thank you, Cap."

He nodded. "Get back up there. I need my big guns shooting."

"Poorly worded, but sir, yes, sir." -I said, then flew up, and kept shooting.

* * *

 _ **Danielle**_

All things considered, we were doing _very_ well.

It was chaos around me, on a level even my fight against the Ghost King and his armies couldn't compare. The ground was pitted and bloodied, making a dark mud that clung to you no matter how good a flier you were. There were explosions everywhere, from Pearl's spear, Iron Man's micro-missiles, and my ecto-bombs. Though the demons' flesh disintegrated shortly after their death, leaving only blackened bones, the brief image of their broken bodies was sure to bring me nightmares for months.

I spent most of the beginning stages of the fight with Stevonnie and the Gems, since Dipper had run off, claiming he needed to study Satanna's fighting style. As such, I got to see them in action once again, though this time, it was up close and personal. Garnet was a beast, seemingly invulnerable against the claws and swords of the demons, her massive gauntlets crushing their bones effortlessly. Amethyst leapt here and there, alternating between expertly lashing out with her spiked whips, and morphing into several deadly animals, which would go on to stomp, maul, and bite the monsters apart. Pearl was as graceful as a ballerina, fighting two-handed with her spear and a rapier she'd pulled from her gemstone, occasionally shooting energy blasts from the tip of her elegant spear. Stevonnie, of course, were a whirlwind of death, their massive pink sword cleaving even the toughest demons neatly in half, their superhumanly strong kicks sending their foes sprawling away like ragdolls.

The new Gems were no less lethal, though clearly a little less experienced at this kind of fighting. The high-tech green one - Peridot, I'd later know her name to be - wielded some kind of power armor which protected her from harm, and allowed her to shoot plasma bolts from a sort of finger gun. She also dispensed several automated drones - little white spheres that walked on floating, stick-like legs - that would shoot photon projectiles at her enemies. The blue one, Lapis Lazuli, was a flier, thanks to wings seemingly made of water. She was fast, and clearly powerful, as she summoned great waves from the nearby coast which crashed against the demon horde, or globes of water which enveloped the demons' heads and mercilessly drowned them. The small, red ones - Rubies, all of them - were very tough, and packed a mean punch, but their summoned weapons were a little too small to pose a serious threat individually.

At some point, the Rubies climbed on top of each other, making a pyramid, and fused, creating...a huge Ruby. I remember seeing a proud smile on Garnet's face, as the fused giant swept through dozens of demons.

I had a tougher time, I'll admit. I was still a little drained from our earlier fight with the Rider, and the initial skirmish against Satanna. I took a lot more hits than I should've. The demons started to single me out, pushing me away from the Gems. I started to feel tiny nicks to my back and arms - succubi teeth and claws, most likely - and a more grievous sword wound to my leg. Eventually, I was backed up against a wall, and forced to put up a shield around me, which quickly started to crack from the sheer amount of attacks inflicted upon it.

I needed an out, and I was too angry to think about phasing out of it, so I dropped my shield and started to wail.

Green waves of pure, ectoplasmic power formed from my shriek. The sonic attack had an immediate effect on the foremost demons, shaking their flesh apart, shutting down whatever equivalent of a nervous system they had. I didn't hold back, as I usually did. I _wanted_ them to die, and they did. Unfortunately, the attack drained me, and before I knew it, I was on my knees, fighting the reversion to human form.

The demon horde renewed its efforts to encircle me, but a blinding flash of light behind them gave their charge pause. I looked up, and saw Opal standing tall behind them, holding a massive version of Pearl's spear. The tall fusion pointed the weapon towards me, and fired a single white bolt, which detonated against the dozens of demons attempting to kill me, disintegrating them. Opal then leapt up, landed at the feet of Lady Liberty herself, and pulled out Amethyst's whip, combining it with the spear to form the fusion's signature weapon. Her bow lit up with a blinding aura, and she began to fire, powerful blasts that left craters in the ground and nothing but charred bones of the demons she accurately targeted.

Stevonnie offered me their hand, which I wearily took. "Rest, Ellie. Regain your energy. We can hold them."

I was momentarily distracted by Garnet, who was currently engaged in fighting with Satanna. The princess of Hell was trying to keep the upper hand on the fusion by floating, but Garnet had leapt up and smashed Satanna straight into the ground.

"Yeah, I believe you." -I said, catching my breath.

They smirked, then shouted at two of their fellow Gem warriors. "Lapis, Peridot! Keep an eye on Ellie!" -they said, then jumped towards more demons.

Peridot walked backwards to me, shooting down some brave, but stupid demons. The green Gem's armor had a few dents and scratches on it, but otherwise, she remained intact. She looked me up and down for a second. "My scans indicate you're only half human, earthling."

Lapis Lazuli landed softly beside me, and offered a sweet smile. I'd have thought she looked ridiculous, wearing that half-dress, half bikini in the middle of a warzone, if she hadn't been completely unscathed. "You're a friend of Steven, and that's all that matters."

The more technically oriented Gem rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, we'll protect your physical form from harm. You're welcome, by the way."

"...thanks."

Peridot's drones formed a perimeter around us, taking potshots at the incoming attackers. The green Gem switched her weapon to a beam mode, which was less effective at killing, but better at crowd control, easily hurting many enemies in succession. Lapis did her thing, willing the sea to shore, and dragging dozens of confused demons away to a watery grave.

Above us, a bat demon exploded. Too close to Stark, apparently, since he was knocked off course and nearly crashed into Peridot. War Machine quickly covered the hole in their aerial defense, so I walked up to Iron Man, who opened his faceplate. " _Ugh_. _Why_ do the bats explode?" -he asked no one in particular.

I helped him rise, an amused smirk on my lips. Peridot seemed surprised to find a human beneath all that armor. "A suicidal tactic intended to cause the most damage possible, of course. I'm surprised your... _shell_ was able to sustain the blast, human."

The billionaire blinked a couple of times. "Kinda built it to take on several armies, Little Green Woman."

" _You_ built this?" -she asked skeptically, blasting away an armored demon that had gotten a little too close and a little too confident.

" _Several_ of these, yeah. Iron Man ring any bells?"

Peridot blinked. "I do not see the relation between a male human, the element iron, and the ringing of bells."

Stark snorted, then turned to me. "Alien?"

I nodded. "Yup. All of the colorful ladies you see, actually."

"Figures. Thor was like this for a while, too, before he figured out Midgard, or whatever it is that space vikings call this planet. You should visit the Tower sometime, there's a ton of tech we could talk over." -he told Peridot.

I chuckled a little. "Geez, you guys just met and you're already planning a date? What would your girlfriend-slash-CEO say, Stark?"

"She'd probably be pleasantly surprised that I brought home an alien that _didn't_ try to kill me, for once."

I shook my head. "Give it time. You rested up?"

He nodded. "Yeah. The reactor has to recycle every now and then, so I'm golden."

"And red." -Peridot pointed out.

"You're funny. Seriously, swing by the Tower sometime. Bring your badass space lady friends, too, we'll make a whole thing out of it."

Iron Man then blasted off towards the skies, leaving a very confused Peridot - and a highly amused Lapis - in his wake. Feeling a little more like myself again, I hovered. "I'm going to rejoin the fight. Thanks for watching my back."

Lapis nodded, while Peridot cocked her head. "I hardly observed your backside at all."

I blushed a little. "Just a saying, Peridot."

I then took off, searching for the nearest clump of enemies, and resumed my work.

* * *

 **So, so close to the end. The amount of things this story is setting up is...geez. Safe to say, there's a lot of writing to be done afterwards. What did you think?**


	22. Chapter 21: The Boss Fight

**This is it: the final fight of the story.**

* * *

 _ **Danny**_

Whenever you think you're doing great, that's when you have to be most careful. That's kind of a rule of thumb, not just for the superheroic line of work.

In our haste to contain the demonic invasion, we'd kind of disregarded a major player. The Ghost Rider had taken to circling Liberty Island, after his initial mad dash towards us. He hadn't touched a single demon, as far as I could tell, but then again, we'd done a good job of keeping them centered on us. In the back of my mind, I knew that the Rider would be trouble sooner or later. But honestly, I kind of forgot all about him between the brief skirmishes with Satanna and the all around chaos of Hell's troops.

The Rider made himself present on the battlefield about twenty minutes into the fight. The demons seemed to recognize this, as they swarmed around the Spirit of Vengeance, almost entirely ignoring us in favor of attacking their fellow demon. The Rider was ruthless; he hopped off his infernal bike, making it crash against the horde, exploding in a mushroom cloud of hellfire. Then his chains came out, dancing around him as he burned a path towards the infernal crack Satanna had created.

"Get out of the Rider's way!" -I shouted into the comlink in my ear. Cap and Spider-Man reluctantly steered clear, even as Rogers had to shield one of the smaller Gems from a stray chain with his indestructible shield. The leader of the Crystal Gems seemed to have noticed the Rider's careless rampage, as she shouted for her teammates to leap away, as well.

The Ghost Rider didn't care at all. Dozens of demons of all kinds were incinerated on the spot. Understanding that he was _sort_ of on our side, we started to thin out the stray demons that were trying to get at the Rider's back. I landed next to Rogers, who had just bashed a succubus' skull in with his shield. "Geez, imagine the field day the press would have, if they saw you taking out a naked lady like this, Captain."

He scowled as the demon's corpse started to turn to ash. Stark landed beside us, his faceplate flipping upwards. "Don't worry, Cap. Stark Industries has _great_ lawyers you could, y'know, borrow."

"Not the time." -he said, his voice full of authority. "What's our next play?"

Stark shook his head. "Well, I've met the Rider. He doesn't give a crap about us, he wants to 'complete his mission', whatever that is."

"Stop Daimon from raising Hell on Earth, right?" -I asked.

Tony nodded. "Right. So why isn't he marching on the Tower? Not that I care for _more_ damage to my property, but that's where _La Femme Nikita_ and Killer Twitter took him, right?"

Rogers frowned, then tapped his ear. "Romanoff, status."

There was a moment of static, then the response. " _Hellstrom is secure. Speaking in tongues, but otherwise harmless. No dice on getting him back to normal, whatever_ that _is with this guy. We're about to board the Quinjet back to you._ "

Cap shook his head. "Stay. The situation here isn't critical, and the kid could still be dangerous. Keep trying."

" _Understood. Have fun down there, boys._ "

The tall Gem in charge landed beside us with a heavy thud. "What are you planning, humans?"

If Cap was intimidated by the eight-feet tall woman with the crazy afro, covered in soot and ash but otherwise unscathed, he didn't show it. "The demon in the leather jacket, he's trying to get to the portal. Any idea why?" -he asked all of us.

It was Spider-Man who answered, having snuck up on us, fiddling with one of his web-shooters. "Why did the chicken cross the road?"

I paled. "To get to the other side…"

The Gem cocked her head. "What's on the other side?"

Dipper ran towards us. "You gotta stop him! He's doing exactly what she wants!"

Stark frowned. "What's he doing, Intern?"

Pines ignored the obvious jab, explaining agitatedly. "The whole thing is a set-up. We got it all wrong, Lucifer isn't trying to cross over…"

A massive, otherworldly groan drew our attention to the supernatural crack in the ground. One of the Rider's chains was buried in the ground, like a lifeline, while the Rider himself was pulling _something_ out of the crack with the other chain.

"He's trying to get dragged _in_." -Dipper finished, his tone deathly.

We all watched in horror as the Ghost Rider gave a last, mighty pull with all of his supernatural strength. A clawed hand, as big as the Rider was tall, burst free of the crack, which rapidly began to widen to accommodate for the rest of the arm, scaly and crimson, with odd, bone-like growths protruding from it. The Ghost Rider seemed stumped for a second, and so he was unable to defend himself when the monstrous limb swat him away with titanic strength, the demon being flinged all the way off the island, disappearing beneath the waves that surrounded it.

The claws - each as long as Captain's shield was wide - dug deep into the earth, the creature connected to them trying to haul itself out of the pit. Dipper gulped. "W-when I saw the pentagram on Daimon's chest, and not anywhere on Satanna, I got curious. Why only leave yourself with one puppet, if you could do two? Then I saw that Satanna was protecting the crack, and not the huge portal in the sky...it was all a set-up, for the Rider. He has Mephisto's curse."

"What does that mean?" -Rogers asked, as he helplessly watched the limb start to pull, his grip on the shield tightening.

Dipper shook his head, paler than I'd ever seen him. "It's like an authorization, Captain. Lucifer must've known that Daimon wouldn't do it, and that Satanna was only powerful enough to open the crack…" -he said, then laughed, mirthlessly. "The Doctor was wrong. Just because the Vishanti - the protectors of our world - are dead, it doesn't mean that their laws don't apply anymore. We thought the portal was all Lucifer needed, but it's not. The Ancient One's laws wouldn't permit him crossing over with the intent to conquer - you can't rule more than one realm at a time. But if he forsakes his world, if Mephisto gives his consent to rule Hell in Lucifer's stead, like he just did through the Ghost Rider's efforts… _that_ was the plan, all along."

The Avengers' radio crackled. " _Romanoff here. Hellstrom just came back to, but he was hysteric. Said it's too late, started throwing fire everywhere. I had to knock him out._ "

" _What the hell's going on down there?"_ -Hawkeye added.

All of us assembled heroes - Avengers, Defenders, and Gems alike - stood helplessly as the crack finally gave and split Liberty Island in two, and the monster finally burst completely.

Stark spoke when none of us had any words. "Daddy's home."

* * *

 **So, after many twists and turns, we've arrived at the final boss. The devil himself comes for Earth.**

 **Basically, thanks to the Ancient One (see Doctor Strange), no one can hold more than one realm at a time. This has been true for millenia, but since the Ancient One died, and with her, the last of the Vishanti have gone, Strange thought that her rules could now be broken. This is untrue - so long as there's a powerful enough Sorcerer Supreme to uphold them, the ancient laws still apply. So, Lucifer could rule Hell or try for Earth, not both at a time. But, if Mephisto (Lucifer's brother) rules Hell, Lucifer is free to try and conquer our world. This is why he needed the Rider to drag him to us. It's a recognizable transition of power, since the Rider is exerting the will of Mephisto. By dragging him to Earth, the Rider 'signed' the exchange.**

 **It's weird, I know.**

 **Anyway, since my creative skill does not lie in description and imagining character designs, I'm basing Lucifer in my favorite interpretation - Diablo in Blizzard's Diablo III. Not quite male, not quite female, all creepy-cool monster. I'll try to do a good job of describing him next chapter.**

 **The Lord of Hell is unlike anything our heroes have faced before. Malachite, Pariah Dark, Loki and the Chitauri...no one compares, and I hope it shows. Don't expect an easy fight. In fact, don't expect them to do much damage at all. Lucifer's presence also acts as what you'd call a 'debuff', warping reality around him into something that looks a lot like Hell. I'm drawing inspiration from the Giant Man fight in Civil War, and from MMO boss fights.**

 **I honestly can't wait to finish this story. It's been such a long ride, and I'd love to move on to the next one, play around with the consequences of Beating the System...also, I'd like to go back to the earlier chapters and correct some mistakes. Fix my timeline and such.**

 **Anyway, that's it for this chapter. Do let me know what you think, please!**


	23. Chapter 22: Atlantic Rim

**I tried to describe the Lord of Hell as best as I could, but I dunno. I'm not that great at descriptions. Just look up Leahblo or imagine the Diablo design from Diablo 3.**

* * *

 _ **Danielle**_

My gods.

I don't know what you picture when you think of the Devil. I guess it depends on what religion you grew up with, what horror movies you've watched. When Vlad downloaded whatever information he thought was relevant to my brain, after my 'birth', I got the classic look imprinted - black horns, red skin, goat legs, held a trident. So far, I was expecting Lucifer to look sorta like that, judging by the fairly stereotypical demons we'd fought. At the very least, I expected him to be a fightable size humanoid.

Lucifer was a fifty-foot tall crimson abomination, a creature so alien as to boggle the mind. Spikes as tall as Garnet protruded from the Demon Lord's back. His massive head resembled a nightmarish, beastly version of a goat's skull. Molten lava dripped from his slack jaw, and seemed to course all through his body. His body was confusing, with open maws on his shoulders, two pairs of clawed limbs on his nearly-skeletal torso, a surprisingly narrow, even feminine waist, and a lower body that would not have been out of place on some sort of alien dinosaur. He seemed to have little flesh, more chitinous armor and painful looking spikes covering his bones than muscle or skin.

As soon as his monstrous feet touched the already soiled ground, flame erupted beneath them. The dirt turned to glass, the air wavered with heat and power, and whatever vegetation was left began to wither and die. It seemed as if his mere presence was beginning to turn Earth into his hellish dimension, every step widening the crack and allowing _hundreds_ of fresh demons through.

There wasn't a lot to say. Even Stark was speechless for once, all of us stunned at the foe we were now forced to face. The only thing we _could_ do was fight. The demons came from the air, charged us, burst from beneath our feet. I kinda lost track of everyone else for a few minutes, fighting desperately to rise from the maelstrom of claws, swords, and teeth, only hearing frantic sounds of exertion and fighting over the radio. Finally, a couple hundred demons later, I managed to burst through to a more significant height, where I could at least _try_ to find one of my fellow heroes.

I nearly crashed with Iron Man, who also seemed to be trying to make sense of the chaos. "What the hell do we do?" -I asked him, blasting a couple of bat demons.

He shook his head, shooting a wrist rocket at a clump of demons that was converging on a small 'island' the Crystal Gems had made for themselves. " _Try to blast the big guy and see what sticks? Honestly, I don't have a clue. This is a little more hectic than the Chitauri._ "

I pursed my lips. Over the radio, I heard the voice of Captain America. " _Everyone, make your way to the base of the statue._ "

A quick glance in that direction confirmed that there were fewer demons in that direction, so Iron Man and I flew towards the rally point. The Captain was already there, crouched and shielding Dipper and Danny, who were keeping the horde at bay with particle rifle shots and ecto-beams. War Machine and Spider-Man joined momentarily, with Colonel Rhodes unleashing all of his armor's arsenal to clear the area around the statue. The Crystal Gems beat a leapfrogging retreat towards us, as well.

Once together, we were able to contemplate the scene; Lucifer was clearly making his way straight towards Midtown, regardless of the water between Liberty Island and his target. Indeed, the sea seemed to be parting for his demonic majesty.

A noise behind us drew our attention. From the shadows, a figure appeared - Nico, looking healed, fresh, and ready for action. " _Gods_ , I can't walk away for an hour. The Apocalypse _literally_ happened."

I gave him an apologetic look, having not seen him since the Ghost Zone. He shrugged. "Let's try to draw the Devil's attention." -he drawled, drawing his pitch-black sword.

The air rang with a deafening blast, as a massive, flying, greek ship of war flew by Lady Liberty, shooting its main broadside cannons at the biblical kaiju that was Lucifer. Several dozen figures leapt from the flying ship onto the ground around us, all wearing some kind of variant of bronze and leather armor, ancient greek style.

I gasped; the demigod army had arrived.

Nico smirked. "I brought some friends - and _that's_ not everything. We had to share the airspace with your more militaristic pals." -he told Captain America, as a truly _gigantic_ flying aircraft carrier decloaked between the island and New York.

The demigods charged, bronze and gold weapons brandished towards the horde left in Satan's wake. The Devil tried to swat at the flying trirreme, apparently annoyed, but the boat was swift enough to get out of the way before the massive limb could even scratch the paint. Frustrated, I suppose, Lucifer chose to ignore the vessel and head straight to the island.

Garnet spoke up, finally. "None of your defenses will hold that monster back. Leave him to us, and tend to his minions." -she said, then turned to the other Gems. "Lapis, try to chain him. Peridot, protect her. We will face this...demon." -she declared.

Before the others could ask what what the now-dancing alien woman meant, Opal nodded, bowing down and infusing into Pearl and Amethyst, who in turn started to dance to the same rhythm as Garnet. Everyone who wasn't aware of what fusion was became utterly befuddled, while us Defenders braced for the incoming mega-fusion that I knew to be called Alexandrite.

Two Gems and a fusion became one, the energy of their merging creating a pillar of light _taller_ than Satan's colossal form, which widened and began to resemble a humanoid shape, except of course for the extra two pairs of arms. A flowing corona of hair splayed out like a star around the basic form of the head. Alexandrite was born amidst a shower of light particles, like a star given frightening form, a titanic warrior that had all of our jaws dropping.

Spider-Man summed up our thoughts. "Holy _shit!_ "

Alexandrite _charged_ , her feet as large as I was tall, covering the distance to the Demon Lord in less than a dozen steps - some of which uncaringly squished the demons that futilely tried to attack her. As she neared Lucifer, she actually _leapt_ , formed an appropriately sized version of Pearl's spear, and stabbed it at the demon's back, causing him to roar in pain and using the momentum and leverage to vault over him, landing with a tsunami-provoking splash between him and the island, barely reined in by a visibly struggling Lapis back at our superhero circle.

Every single one of us - even Stevonnie, who I assumed was fairly familiar with Alexandrite - was slack-jawed at the sight of this warrior goddess taking on the former ruler of Hell. Iron Man piped up. " _What're your orders, Cap'n?_ "

Captain Rogers sighed, for once overwhelmed by the situation. "Fight."

Nico shook his head, equally shocked. "Well. Let's get to it then."

The perfectly round shield of Captain America led our charge, as we plowed through the demon formation, our environment an utterly chaotic mix of energy blasts, hot lead, the clanging of bronze, and the screams of dying demons, all with the background of two enormous creatures clashing like the gods of old, their blows like cannon shots - and I could tell, given the _actual_ cannons firing on that flying trirreme.

Alexandrite seemed a much better fighter than Lucifer, whose strategy seemed to simply be to endure the blows. To be fair, the titanic fusion didn't seem to be doing crippling damage; her blows caused the bastard to growl with pain, her kicks made him stumble, her weapons made him bleed that weird, lava-like substance inside his chitinous hide. Still, the Demon Lord continued his march.

That is, until the water chains came for him.

* * *

 **Hey! It's Alexandrite, my favorite fusion - besides Stevonnie, of course. She's the most powerful fusion in the Crystal Gem's arsenal, but will she be enough to halt Lucifer's advance? It is, after all, game over if he reaches the city - thousands would die.**

 **Depending on how it works out, next chapter may be the last, without counting the epilogue. It's been a wild ride, ladies and gents.**


	24. Chapter 23: The End

**It's the fiiinaaal chaaapteeer! Du du duuu duuu, du du du du duuuuuu**

* * *

 _ **Danny**_

I've seen a lot of weird things in my rather short life. Maybe _too_ many, y'know? It's part of the job, I suppose. This day just really topped everything, and yes, that _does_ include seeing Dash as a halfa in that weird, recurring nightmare I've had ever since Nocturne spent a sabbatical weekend in Amity Park.

Alexandrite versus Lucifer was an entirely different league of weird, awesome, and terrifying. I knew my limits well. I knew what kinds of threats I could handle, and I don't think I could even lay a bruise on either of them, even if I were wearing the Ecto-Skeleton, at my current, adult-level power. _El Diablo_ shrugged off hits that would've easily leveled skyscrapers, pierce wounds that would have bored straight into mountains, energy blasts that would have instantly vaporized entire lakes.

I would've been happy to let the big girl - made from smaller girls - handle evil godzilla, but it seemed even Alexandrite wasn't enough. The first sign of trouble was the lightning breath. At first, Lucifer seemed to be content tanking the blows, intent on advancing on the city, but after Alexandrite delivered an awesome attack with Opal's bow that actually sheared off one of his smaller arms, the Demon Lord got _angry_.

Satan unhinged his already open maw and lightning flowed from it, a stream of sheer power that had Alexandrite crossing all six of her arms to try and shield herself. The blast made the massive Gem fusion stumble backwards, and actually groan in pain. After the attack was done, Alexandrite briefly glowed white, as if it would infuse, but she held together. Then, her entire face lifted, like Iron Man's faceplate, revealing a monstrous maw, teeth and all, along where her jawline would be. Alexandrite breathed _fire_ , or whatever the alien, slightly violet equivalent was, which washed over Lucifer's form. The former ruler of Hell howled in pain, but powered through, and prepared to stab the towering fusion through the chest with his terrifyingly large forearm bone spike.

Lapis Lazuli, the blue Gem, stopped that from happening, holding the Demon Lord's arm back with nothing but water and sheer willpower. Satan yanked his arm, which caused Lapis to cry out, and the chains to nearly break, but still, she held on. For how much longer, I didn't know.

I turned to Nico, who was cheerfully beheading an armored demon. "Nico, your friend! Have him help the Gem!"

The demigod nodded, running off towards a raven-haired teen - a son of the sea god Poseidon, if I recalled correctly - who was surrounded by a small hurricane. "Percy! Can you help hold back the big guy? I'll cover you." -he asked, running a Succubus through on the way to him.

The guy with the ocean-colored eyes gave a very eloquent: "Uh...sure?", before thrusting his hand out towards the titanic fight. A wave of sea water rose up, then covered the Demon Lord, morphing into a harness that pulled taut on the monster. Lapis Lazuli took the opportunity to form a second chain for his other arm, and pulled both of them back.

Alexandrite formed her massive spear, and wasted no time in running the bound Lord of Hell through.

Now, _usually_ , this would mean the bad guy dies, but the Devil didn't. He bled profusely, and howled in agony, but then he thrust his hand out towards the army on the broken island. The demons we were fighting suddenly lit up and burned to cinders, their life force siphoned and used to heal the Demon Lord. His wounds were sealed, his arm grew back, and he easily broke the spear that had pierced him into a million photonic particles. A brief, but immensely powerful burst of hellfire sprouted from his hide, breaking the magical water chains, and knocking out Percy and Lapis from the exertion.

Alexandrite stepped back as Lucifer began to charge, aiming to headbutt with that huge, horned head of his. As the demon was about to make contact, the fusion stepped aside, forming a massive warhammer and turning her torso 360° to bat him aside, away from the city.

Unfortunately, Lucifer's tail managed to swipe at Alexandrite, and the spikes on it wounded the luminous being. Alexandrite doubled over, groaning, as the Demon Lord recovered, and leisurely marched toward the downed warrior.

Lucifer spoke, for the first time, an otherworldly chant that promised only death and destruction. " _ **Is this world so pitiful that it must rely on champions from without for defense?**_ "

He then turned to us, his glowing gaze paralyzing us - all of us, veteran and rookie alike - with fear. " _ **Behold how easily your defender dies...and know that your end comes just as swiftly**_."

The Demon Lord grabbed Alexandrite by the neck, lifting the larger warrior with impressive strength from her kneeling position. The visor that covered - or acted as - the fusion's eyes shined, and just as Lucifer was about to deliver the final blow, Alexandrite infused into Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl.

The comparatively tiny Gems fell on the demon's extended limb, and renewed the fight on an entirely different scale. A portal in our midst snapped us out of our shock, one that I recognized and felt relief at. Doctor Strange came out of the gateway, an expression of utter rage on his face.

Dipper gasped. "Doctor?"

Strange barely acknowledged his star pupil, his hands becoming enshrouded in green, mandala-like designs, making us all scramble as the island shook itself - not apart, but together. The damage done to Liberty Island was slowly reversed, as time itself rewound and erased the signs of the demonic invasion; the bones turned back into the hellish creatures, which then returned to the crack from which they'd crawled out of.

The Doctor turned to us, his eyes aglow with that same, green aura. "Keep the Demon Lord busy, and _outside_ the bounds of the island."

Those of us who could hastily complied; tracers, arrows, missiles and repulsor blasts were quickly joined by Ellie and I's ecto-blasts. We didn't do much damage, as I'd imagined, but it did keep the beast focused on us, instead of noticing Strange's efforts.

It was _very_ clear that we were completely out of our league, however. Lucifer batted Quinjets out of the air, breathed lightning we barely flew out of the way of, and quickly healed what little damage we'd managed to inflict.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that the green glow had faded from Liberty Island, which looked as pristine as it had been before Daimon had ever set foot on it. My distraction cost me, as the Devil roared and _exploded_ , a wave of hellfire sending me spiraling towards the island, lacking any sort of control. Before I left a trench on the newly repaired lawn around Lady Liberty, Danielle caught me.

"You alright?" -she asked me, the right side of her hair having been singed off by the demonic fire.

"No. Thanks, though."

She chuckled. "Sure thing."

Us downed heroes - Avengers, Defenders, Gems, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and demigods alike - rose one last time, just in time to see the Demon Lord walk towards us, his maw ready to deal the finishing blow - but Strange defiantly walked in front of us.

"Lord Marduk! I have come to bargain." -he said, his tone suggesting anything but.

Lucifer stopped his march, cocking his massive head. " _ **You are no mere mortal. Sorcerer Supreme, no bargain can save your world from my rule. I have sacrificed my domain. Dormammu may have fallen for your trickery, but I am not he.**_ "

"Indeed. You are much weaker, and I more experienced." -he said, then his hands became wreathed in red. " _Aleisabat qirmaziat min Cyttorak!_ "

Crimson bands appeared around Lucifer, instantly squeezing him so tight that we heard his chitinous hide crack. The bands then anchored themselves against the seafloor, pulling down and bringing the Demon Lord to his knees.

Lucifer tried to shake himself loose, but even his massive strength was unable to break free. He growled at Strange - and at us, I suppose. " _ **The Crimson Bands of Cyttorak...you play with forces you cannot comprehend.**_ " -he bellowed.

Strange allowed himself a small smirk. "And you underestimate the champions of this world."

Stark tossed his damaged helmet aside as he approached the Doctor. "I don't suppose you have a giant magical bullet for him in your arsenal?"

Doc Strange spared a glare for the billionaire. "I have sworn not to take another life, Mr. Stark. I will not make an exception. Even for _him_."

Lucifer sneered. " _ **And what an impasse that creates. The single warrior who could harm me refuses to do so**_."

The Demon Lord struggled further, and the crimson bands actually loosened a tiny bit. Strange started sweating from the effort. "Perhaps, Lord Marduk, you have forgotten that our greatest strength is not that of a single warrior…"

A light that rivaled that of the sun bloomed behind us. I turned, and saw Alexandrite form once again, her visor cracked, her massive bow already nocked, the light arrow nearly bursting with energy.

"...but the sum of our efforts."

Alexandrite fired, the bolt burning clean through the Demon Lord's skull. Lucifer howled in agony for a second, but it was clear, as the acidic lava within him began to lose its glow, that the former Lord of Hell had been vanquished. Lucifer's enormous corpse fell at Lady Liberty's feet, slowly dissolving into smoke and shadows.

And so, with a flash from the rings around my waist, I passed out.

* * *

 **Ok, so this _is_ the final chapter, but there's still a big epilogue left for me to write on the fallout of this whole adventure. **

**The Devil became mortal the moment the portal was closed, which Strange did with the help of the Eye of Agamotto - that, in itself, being (spoiler) an Infinity Stone. The Stones are the most powerful things in the universe, and in this instance, they turned an immortal fallen angel into a mortal beast, slain by an amalgam of sentient, alien rocks. Cool, huh?**

 **I thought about having the final fusion be the Temple fusion, and beheading the sonuvabitch, but the Temple fusion has no name, and the addition of Steven to the equation might actually make the fusion doubt such a violent act. Stevonnie may be a badass warrior, but they would not execute an enemy. They're in it for a good, fair fight.**

 **So, now that the story is done, what do you think about it? I think I might remove Danny's prologue, and fix something into the first chapter so it doesn't quite come out of nowhere. I do realize that it seems like false advertising, when the story is 80% Danielle. I just didn't want that awesome chapter to be lost. Maybe I'll make a shorter fic out of it later.**

 **Anyway, thank you so much for sticking around! Keep an eye out for the epilogue, and for the next installment in my Marvel Universe!**

 **The Defenders Will Be Back**


	25. Epilogue

_**Danielle**_

You know you're way too tired when you float into a room because you don't trust your feet to get you anywhere. I found myself wandering around Avengers Tower, munching on the first edible thing I'd found in the Tower - post-battle catering was big in here, apparently - as the 'grown-ups' figured out the fallout of the events in Liberty Island. I ended up in some kind of incredibly messy workshop, filled with metal and electronic components..

"Hey, would you mind shooting this for me?"

I tiredly looked up from my...shawarma, was it? JARVIS had said that's what it was called. Tony Stark was holding up a white, rectangular panel made of a seemingly flimsy, plastic-looking material. "Uh, are you sure?" -I asked, looking skeptically at the panel.

"Always."

Shrugging, I quickly blasted the panel off his hands, making him curse in surprise. The billionaire picked the panel up from the spot it had landed on. "Huh. Ghost-proof." -he said, showing me the plate, which was completely undamaged.

I frowned. "The hell is _that_ made from?"

"Patent pending-anium."

" _Nice_. What're you working on?"

He raised an amused eyebrow. "Christmas present, actually. Long overdue. You want anything?" -he said, gesturing around himself to the whole workshop.

"Actually, yeah." -I said. He cocked his head, expectantly. "Not, y'know, any of this. But I hear you're in the business of making people look cooler."

He snorted. "You could say that." -he retorted, then brought up a holographic schematic of something that looked like Captain America's suit, only sleeker, modernized. More like armor than a glorified army uniform, or a comic book lover's wet dream. "I've been working on updating our gear. I wasn't even sure if the team was gonna assemble again, but y'know. Just in case. Better than me going stir-crazy. Cheaper than making a bunch of suits for myself, too."

"I can imagine. You helped Danny with his, right?"

He grimaced. "I'm gonna be painfully honest here, kid. I designed a suit for him, yeah, but I couldn't claim to know how the hell he integrated it into his weird, flashy, 'I'm-suddenly-a-ghost' thing."

I changed into human then, just to spite him. He groaned. "Yeah, that's the one. How does that even work? Why isn't your half-eaten shawarma floating and shooting tiny green beams at us right now? _How is that quick of a costume change fair?_ "

"Don't know what to tell ya. I was kinda born this way."

He sighed. "Right, ok. Anyway, I could whip something up for you. You'll just have to ask your Jango to teach you how to to _bond it to your soul_ or whatever it is you people do."

"Umm...sure, but, what the hell is a Jango?"

* * *

About an hour later, and happy with the results of my design sesh with Stark, I found myself in the common area, surrounded by used styrofoam food containers, discarded weapons and costume pieces, and napping superheroes. The Black Widow and Hawkeye were basically attempting fusion on a loveseat, while Steven and Connie were sprawled on the floor, softly snoring. Dipper, Blaze, Hellstrom, Strange, and every other Avenger and Gem except for Peridot were nowhere to be seen.

The green Gem was the only other being not sleeping in the common area; she was tinkering with the portable Warp Pad Stevonnie had pulled out of Lion's mane.

"Uh, hey." -I said.

Peridot stopped, looking at me with a confused expression. "Um. Hello."

I pursed my lips. "I just wanted to thank you. Y'know, for saving my butt back there, with Lapis Lazuli."

She cocked her head. "I assume this is an expression? 'saving my butt'?"

I chuckled. "Yeah."

She nodded. "I see."

An awkward silence followed our exchange. "What're you working on?"

"What, this old thing? It's just a portable Warp Pad. I'm trying to stabilize the Warp matrix inside it so it can last longer. Six of your months. As impressed as I was with the Iron Man's technological knowhow - for someone belonging to such a primitive species, anyway - Warp technology is far beyond humanity's current capabilities."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why do you want it to last longer?"

She shrugged, somewhat annoyed. "The permafusion Garnet is under the impression that these _Avengers_ could benefit from a direct method of communicating with us. That _maybe_ , the Crystal Gems could use the help as well."

"Well, Alexandrite _did_ just save the day."

Peridot scowled. "Yes, and _exposed_ the last of Gemkind to the universe in the process." -she said, bitterly.

I crossed my arms. "What do you mean, the last of Gemkind? I thought the Homeworld Gems were still out there."

The green Gem snorted. "Is that what Pearl told you?"

"It was more implied than outright stated, to be fair."

"Either way, the notion is incorrect. As far as I know - and I know a lot - Gems no longer exist anywhere outside this planet. Garnet, Pearl, Amethyst, Lapis, the Rubies, Jasper, Steven, and myself. We're it."

"Christ. What happened out there?" -I asked, horrified.

Peridot sighed, then shrugged. "The Kree. The Mad Titan. Ourselves. Take your pick, hybrid. The galaxy is a dangerous place. We didn't make it."

I was silent for some time, watching her work - a fascinating process I understood absolutely _nothing_ about. "I'm sorry."

The green Gem seemed confused. "Why?"

"I didn't mean to bring bad memories up."

Peridot shook her head. "It was centuries ago. I've made my peace with it. It was honestly for the best; I didn't always think this way, but I'm glad the Crystal Gems rebelled. Because of them, Earth was spared, cut off from Homeworld as it was. And, loathe as I may be to admit it…" -she said, leaving her tinkering aside for a second. "I understand why Rose Quartz betrayed her Diamond. Your world is a beautiful one."

I smiled. "Well, we try to keep it that way."

"And you will now have our official aid in this task." -said Garnet, walking into the large room. Pearl and Amethyst accompanied her. Captain Rogers, Danny, and Doctor Strange followed the Gems.

"Time for the debrief." -Captain America said.

* * *

Debriefings are _boring_. At least the room was interesting - probably _too_ interesting, considering the sheer amount of people inside it. Captain America led the table, with Widow and Stark at either side. From the redheaded spy followed Hawkeye, then Danny, me, Strange, Nico, and a young woman in bronze armor I'd briefly seen in the battle. Opposite Rogers sat a scowling S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in the process of grilling us for details, and then the Crystal Gems - Stevonnie infused into their components due to their size - except for Amethyst. Peridot sat blushing slightly next to an oblivious Stark, much to my amusement.

"As far as the world knows, this was another alien invasion attempt. Though, of course, footage of the battle has been widely leaked by several _thousand_ witnesses, the fact that a portal spewed out yet _another_ army of humanoid looking creatures has worked in our favor. That's the official story. I _suggest_ you stick to it, for once." -said Deputy S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Maria Hill, looking pointedly at Stark, who just smirked.

Strange piped up. "I agree, for once. Humanity is not yet ready to face this particular truth. It would shake every religion to its core."

"And, what, aliens don't do that?" -Danny asked.

"They're easier to adapt to, trust me." -said Rogers - catholic, if I remembered correctly - scowling.

Hill shook her head slightly. " _Anyway,_ aside from that, there's the matter of the evidence of more non-Avenger Enhanced. We can discredit _some_ of it, but most of you are going to have to go public. Demigods, half-ghosts, and Gems, at least."

Nico shrugged. "We're working on that." -he said, then nodded to the girl with blonde hair and stormy grey eyes beside him. "Annabeth and I have given this some thought. The U.N. is technically aware - secretly, of course - that magic exists. There's a system in place for diplomacy between the real world and that of fantasy. We have to start erasing that line."

The girl named Annabeth crossed her arms. "The Mist is all but broken. That means the barrier that hides most magical phenomena from mortal eyes will cease to exist. It's not something that can be stopped, so we have to get ahead of it before it becomes chaos everywhere."

Maria Hill narrowed her eyes. "What do you propose?"

"Well, as you said, people have a high opinion of the Avengers. If they were to get some magical members in, maybe even being seen protecting people from rogue magical perils...it would seem like less of a shock and more of a boon when witches, demigods, and other such magical people start integrating into society." -she explained.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent gave it a moment. "I'd have to check with Fury, but I personally approve. _If_ there's no stopping this _Mist_ from disappearing, that is."

Nico glowered. "There isn't. We've checked. Ever since the mortals watched the Avengers assemble, they're much more inclined to believe in the impossible. Lady Hecate has spent the last few months in agony, just trying to hold the Mist together."

Hill sighed. "Fine, then. You have my preliminary go."

Tony frowned. "Wait a minute. Shouldn't we get _some_ kind of say in this? It's _our_ team, agent."

"Which would _not_ exist if it weren't for the initiative Nick Fury came up with decades ago." -she shot back.

"Your team _and_ New York _almost_ ceased to exist because your boss is a lying fu-"

" _Enough_." -said Rogers, who looked at Hill while ignoring Stark's pointed glare. "We get to vet any candidates. Non-negotiable."

Hill looked to the Black Widow and Hawkeye for support, but the spies just shrugged. "I'm with Cap. S.H.I.E.L.D. and the World Security Council granted the Avengers operational freedom, in exchange for accountability. _You_ may suggest potential candidates. _We_ pick them." -said the redhead.

The archer snorted. "Yeah. Wouldn't want to work with just _any_ punk." -he said, shooting a playfully snide look at Danny, who just rolled his eyes.

Hill pursed her lips, but finally relented. "We'll prepare dossiers for your evaluation, Captain Rogers." -she said, then took her leave.

Pearl raised an eyebrow. "Your shady government official seems to have forgotten about the aliens in the room."

Widow smiled. "That's probably what she left us two _other_ shady government officials behind for."

At Pearl's blush, Hawkeye shrugged. "Don't worry. We'll make Stark write the report."

"Keep it up, Barton. See if I make you those anti-demon arrows you wanted."

Hawkeye pouted. "Fine, fine, Jesus. I'll behave."

Danny snorted. "I highly doubt that."

Captain Rogers cleared his throat, which silenced the room. "Let's keep on topic, here." -he said, then turned to the leader of the Crystal Gems. "We couldn't have won this battle without you. Thank you."

Garnet nodded, inexpressive as always. "It has ever been the Crystal Gems' mission to protect Earth and its inhabitants, but perhaps we've slacked in our duties in the past few centuries. It was time to take a stand."

"I understand you've offered us a way to communicate, should we ever need your assistance again."

The fusion nodded. "Peridot has rigged up a provisional Warp Pad, and its corresponding Warp Whistle. Use the latter, and we'll translocate to the pad's location as soon as possible. Just don't keep it under a roof. If you wanna keep it intact, that is."

Stark hummed. "Well, JARVIS has updated his database to recognize all of you, so... _mi casa es su casa_. Feel free to drop by anytime. Preferably with more alien tech I can obsess over."

"Your hospitality is appreciated, Mr. Stark. I believe we'll take our leave." -said Pearl, bowing. The Crystal Gems filed out of the crowded conference room. I waved goodbye to Peridot and Lapis Lazuli.

Nico and Annabeth rose as well. The Prince of the Underworld spoke up. "We'll be going, too. Get a room ready for your new demigod Avenger. Stark, you know the one."

Iron Man groaned. " _Baywatch?_ Come on, kid, we're the _Avengers_ , not the Super Friends."

Nico grinned. "Baywatch indeed, the one and only. He's due a change of pace, and you know him already. He'll be a good fit, trust me."

Rogers looked at Stark, who just shrugged. " _Ugh_ , yeah, fine. I'll get him a room with a view."

"Make that two. I'm RSVPing 'yes'." -said Danny.

"For real?" -asked Hawkeye.

"I mean, _someone_ has to compensate for the guy on the team with no powers who chooses to fight with a medieval weapon."

Captain America stood up and shook my brother's arm, smiling. "We're glad to have you on board, Danny."

"Yeah, well. I'm pretty sure my spot on the Defenders is in pretty safe hands." -he said, looking proudly at me.

"Thanks." -I said, smiling.

Nico snorted. "Good luck. Keep in touch, Phantom." -he said, as he and Annabeth disappeared into the shadows.

"Since we're on the topic already, I have a request for you, Captain Rogers." -Strange said.

Rogers crossed his arms. "Let's hear it."

The Doctor smoothed his crimson cape. "I have evaluated Mr. Blaze, and found his possession ended. I surmise Lord Mephisto has deemed his further worth as a tool negligible. However, the fire in his veins remains. Young Johnathon has no close family or friends left, I'm afraid. He needs support, lest he wander darker paths of his own volition. Perhaps, even training. The dark magic within him is strictly forbidden in Kamar-Taj, so I would ask of you to take him under your wing."

The Captain frowned. "Blaze is powerful, but he had zero control back on Liberty Island. Can that change?"

Strange hummed. "I believe so. Without the demon overshadowing his will, he has free reign to utilize his powers as he sees fit. I would not leave you without means to subdue him, in any case. His power will be more easily manageable, without the ancient demon 'behind the wheel', so to speak."

Rogers looked at the other Avengers, all of whom seemed unconvinced. "We'll consider it." -he said, finally. "What about Hellstrom?"

"I am entrusting his care to Mr. Di Angelo, for the time being. The boy showed promise, and most importantly, true regret over his decisions. I see a bright future for him, should he be willing to atone for his sins."

"And the demon fork?" -asked Stark.

"To be sealed away. Until he is deemed fit to wield it, and I determine whether or not Lord Mephisto can exploit the link severed by Lucifer's demise."

"Sounds good. Just get it the hell out of my Tower."

"Isn't it _our_ Tower now, Tony?" -asked Widow, innocently.

The inventor rolled his eyes. "I already said the whole _mi casa_ bit. Do whatever, I don't care. I'm leaving for Malibu tomorrow, anyway. No, you're not invited."

The spy smirked. "I'm sure I'll find a way to crash your christmas party."

"Dinner, actually. Also, _fuck off_."

Rogers frowned, Barton snickered, and we _all_ turned when the door to the conference room opened, and a _very_ confused Bruce Banner - oddly dressed in a purple and green hawaiian shirt and carrying a travel bag - walked in.

"Um...what did I miss?"

* * *

 **Finally, the end.**

 **As you can see, I'm teasing at least two stories. One, a rewrite of Iron Man 3 in this universe, which _should_ be fairly short and easy to pump out. Another, more complicated one in space, as teased by Peridot. I've already got the docs in progress, so keep a lookout for 'em.**

 **Before any of that, though, I'll get right to work on Beating the System's prequel, which focuses on bridging that insidious gap between the prologue in this story and Dani's adventure. We'll get to see Danny meeting the Avengers and the changes that brings to the whole dynamic. I also have an idea for Permafrost, which has been stuck in a rut for ages. The Defenders' next adventure will be found there.**

 **AND THEN I'll get to Beating the System's _actual_ sequel, which will be a reimagining/merger with First Contact. Expect lots of young heroes earning their place in the pantheon - as well as in action figure racks.**

 **Thank you so, so much for giving this story a chance. From being an aimless wreck to launching this whole goddamn crossover universe, it's been a two year long ride. I'll revise every chapter in between writing my next fics, just to improve the flow of my earliest work, but the story stands - and honestly? For such a clusterfuck of fandoms and characters? I think it turned out pretty well.**

 **Stay tuned! Until next time.**


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